The Long Brick Road
by BillAndBrick
Summary: Just when Chuck thinks Cole has gone for good, they, along with Sarah and Ellie, are forced to go off the grid for two weeks. But what happens when Ellie makes it her mission to make sure Sarah realizes her feelings for Chuck?
1. The Courtyard

**_The Long Brick Road_**

_BillAtWork's A/N:_

_This is a project that I've wanted to work on for a long time. The idea of what could have happened after Lethal Weapon has always intrigued me. Brickroad was one of my first Chuck friends, dating back to the first season. We've talked about working together several times. The vision for my Therapy story is based upon her February Air. We've beta'd each other's stories many times, but never went farther. We approached this a little differently than most collaborations. We are writing each chapter together. Sometimes it takes us many iterations of emails talking about plot points before we discover that we agreed all the time. :) I'm very excited to work with someone as talented as BrickRoad. I have to tell you, I'm excited by what I see so far. I hope that the love for the show and, more than that, respect for the characters that we share comes through. _

_Brickroad16's A/N:  
_

_I have to be honest, before Bill got me interested in this project (over the course of a few months and countless emails), I felt my days as a fan fiction writer to be winding down. I still love Chuck as much as I ever did, but I simply don't have as much time as I used to. However, I'm extremely happy that Bill twisted my arm into coauthoring this with him (yes, the title was part of what convinced me! :P). I think it brings out the best in both of us as writers, blending his sense of plot and action with my softer, more personal style. I'm very pleased with the result so far, especially since this is likely to be my last story. I will be leaving in about six weeks for a two-year trip overseas, during which I will have questionable internet access. So I'd like to thank Bill for the opportunity to help write this story, and I'd like to thank all of you who are about to read it. The Chuck community has been an amazing place to hang out these past three and a half years, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know you all. I really hope you enjoy this story! Here's to hoping this show and community will still be going strong when I get back in 2013! :)_

_____We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything. _

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

_This story is set in the middle of Season Two. It was a much simpler time. There was no Intersect 2.0. Chuck and Sarah weren't together - far from it. Barstow was still a couple of months away. They were officially asset and handler. Chuck hadn't begun to search for his dad yet. Even Devon and Ellie were still some months away from their wedding day._

_Things were actually pretty tense between our heroes. At Ellie's urging, Chuck had just ended their relationship – only to have the government insist that they resume it. Chuck was fairly convinced that Sarah and Cole were an item. After all, he had just witnessed a very steamy kiss between them on the surveillance monitor – and who knows what else? After all, they did spend that whole night together in Castle. Sarah was obviously attracted to Cole. Of course she was. Why wouldn't she be? He was exactly Sarah's type, the effortless hero and everything that Chuck wasn't. And unlike Chuck, he was someone who could understand the life that Sarah had chosen. Beyond respecting her choices, he made the same ones himself. They shared a spy bond that Chuck couldn't understand, much less match._

_What Chuck didn't see on the monitor was Sarah turning down Cole's offer. Because he left too soon, his imagination was left to run wild. He assumed Cole was making his move, and he was right. Only he was very wrong about Sarah's response. How could anyone resist Cole's charms? And yet she did, with the simple explanation:_

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

_This is the story of relationships - and choices. Those choices will be driven by all of the usual reasons people make choices – love, lust, duty, greed, fear, hate, jealousy. Some choices will lead new relationships to form and grow strong. Some choices will cause existing relationships to be tested and endure – whiles others will be tested and perhaps not survive. And finally some choices will cause relationships that once looked promising to never really form. But most of all, this is the story of two women's individual choices – and how true Sarah's statement to Cole really was…_

**The Courtyard**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck plodded his way up the courtyard. The pain in his sprained foot was intense, but bearable compared to the embarrassment he felt. Of all the stupid things . . . To be injured tripping on a window ledge. Not only to be injured by tripping on a window ledge, but to be injured by tripping on a window ledge while Cole Barker was throwing himself in front of bullets. And there he was, throwing himself in front of . . . carpet. No wonder that Sarah was choosing Cole. When faced with the international superspy and the computer nerd from Burbank, what girl wouldn't? At least she was sitting there by the fountain waiting for him. And she was alone. That was good. He didn't know if he could say this in front of Cole.

Sarah, sitting there on the fountain, chin resting on her fist, wasn't sure why the sight of Chuck limping on his injured foot struck her as funny. She knew that he was embarrassed about it, especially after enduring Casey's jabs for a whole day. The last thing that she wanted was to rub any more salt into that already open wound. Okay, yes, the story sounded pathetic. He tripped on a window ledge and broke his foot. No spy with a shred of dignity would ever allow that to happen. But Chuck never did exactly fit into the 'hero' role. She had half a mind to rip into Cole for allowing Chuck to be there in the first place. He could have really gotten hurt. And why should Chuck feel badly about not being Cole's equal? Cole had ten years of training. Besides, Sarah knew full well why Chuck had risked his life today. It was sweet – incredibly, unbelievably, frustratingly stupid – but still sweet. Even with all of that, though, she couldn't keep a silly grin from tugging at the corners of her lips.

"How's the foot?" she asked.

"Throbbing, thanks," was Chuck's reply. "Did Cole leave?"

Sarah was cautious. She didn't have to have years of training to pick up on his sensitivity to the MI-6 agent. "Un-huh," she said.

"He's quite a guy," Chuck said.

Sarah frowned. The last thing that she wanted to talk about was Cole Barker. So keep it short – and change the subject. "Yeah," she said. "That he is."

"You know," Chuck said. "I understand what you see in him. He's a great spy – he's umm… one of the good guys – and the truth is, you two would make a great team."

She sighed in frustration. _Why wouldn't he just let this go?_ She knew he had confidence issues, with all the things that have happened to him in the past few years, but she hated that he couldn't see how valuable he was to the team. She hated that he was constantly trying to prove himself by doing idiotic things like trying to rescue her. She hated that, even after a year and a half together, he didn't seem to recognize just how much she cared for him. It was time to end this.

"Chuck," she said, perhaps not harshly, but with a definite edge.

"Please," Chuck interrupted as he sat down. "Please just . . . let me finish." Then he took off his shoulder bag and smoothed his hair. "Sarah," he said, "I'm not going to move in with you . . . because I can't. And you know why I can't. Sarah, I'm crazy about you. . . . I've always been."

This was getting into dangerous territory. What could she possibly say to that? Didn't he see the camera pointed directly at them? This wasn't the place for this conversation. Of course, there really wasn't a better place for it. It was just the way things were for spies. There were cameras at the Buy More, cameras in Castle, cameras in his apartment. Cameras everywhere, and no safe place to ever say what weighed so heavily on her mind.

"But you know, having a fake relationship is one thing," Chuck continued. "But living together is . . . I mean, every day being around each other . . . and, and . . . that's why I can't do it . . . and I hope that you understand."

Sarah knew that she had to say something, or Chuck would simply continue babbling. Then he would say something that would cause trouble, if he hadn't already.

"I do," was all she could get out. And she did understand. She understood far better than he gave her credit for. Chuck wanted more, more than she could give him right now. Sarah knew exactly what that felt like. Because she felt it too.

When she'd gotten the order to move in with him, for his greater protection of course, she was at war with herself. That tiny, irrational part of her heart that still believed in happy endings was ecstatic, thrilled at the possibility of spending more time with him. She'd always wanted an excuse to be around him more and more, but something had always prevented her from becoming better friends with him. Her sensible side, on the other hand, that side that tells her head to rule her heart with an iron fist, had immediately built up her walls. After all, if she was going to be cohabitating with her asset and the only man who could ever make her wish for normalcy, her defenses had to be rock-solid.

"Thank you," Chuck said as he stood up to leave.

Sarah was relieved. That hadn't been too bad. Hopefully whichever analyst was monitoring this particular feed wouldn't feel the need to make a report to Beckman.

"Oh," Chuck continued. "Just so you know - I am going to get this thing out of my head one day . . . I will. And when I do, I'm going to live the life that I want . . . with the girl that I love. Because I'm not going to let this rob me of that. I won't."

Sarah knew that she couldn't look at him or she would break down. Even if she could manage not to tell him, to confess all her feelings then and there, her face would give her away - if not to Chuck, then certainly to Beckman or whichever analyst was watching. For one thing, Chuck's last speech almost certainly guaranteed that Beckman would now be reading a transcript of this conversation. She might even personally review the tape. If that happened, she simply couldn't be allowed to see Agent Walker show any signs of being compromised. That would mean immediate reassignment. And that would be non-negotiable. So she just allowed him to walk away. Sarah couldn't help but take a peek at his retreating form.

She sighed. There was so much she wished she could tell him.

But at least he was safe.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was in the house busily putting boxes together when Chuck walked in.

"I went and got some moving boxes," she said with a grin.

Ellie was in her element. She was helping her little brother finally move on with his life. The truth was that she was far more relieved than happy. This thing with Chuck and Sarah had her confused. And if there was one thing that was for sure, Ellie didn't confuse easily. Not when it came to relationships. This one was different though. They had been together for over a year now. Not only that, they were with each other almost every waking minute. But they weren't happy. That much was clear. It was the time when most relationships either got serious, or they moved on. These kids didn't seem like they were doing either. Something was just . . . off. Ellie couldn't put her finger on what it was, but something was sure missing.

Oh, there were flashes. There were times when they looked at each other and you could just see the love in their eyes, especially Sarah's. But then, other times, they both just looked like they were marking time. She sometimes caught glimpses of uncertainty in Sarah's eyes, and wondered if her past (that mysterious ex who kept showing up) was the reason for her hesitancy to commit. She would very much love to play the overbearing older sister and blame it all on the girlfriend, but that was impossible whenever she looked at Sarah. She knew, without a doubt, that Sarah loved her brother. But the on-again, off-again nature of their relationship left her very confused, left her feeling a bit useless if truth be told. Because she and Devon were solid, and whenever she saw the affectionate glances passing between her brother and his girlfriend, she suddenly didn't have any words, didn't have any advice that could make it better.

Thank goodness that they were moving in together. Maybe this was the beginning of that 'getting serious' phase.

She truly hoped so, for both of their sakes', and she was making no effort to keep the excitement from her voice. "You can use them to pack. Do you need any help?"

Chuck's answer burst that building hope like a soap bubble. "We've had a change of plans," he said as he walked toward his room without looking at her. He didn't even break stride. "I'm not moving." Then he closed the door.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was honestly too mentally exhausted to even think about moving from her spot on the edge of the fountain. It was heartbreaking to listen to someone that you loved tell you how hard you were making it for them. That's exactly what Chuck was doing. Even if he didn't realize it - he was actually pleading with her to correct him. And she simply couldn't. It was one of the hardest things she had ever done to keep her chin planted on her fist and not say anything. And it was ten times as heartbreaking that someone you loved would never know how hard it was for _you_.

He was also just as clearly still jealous over Cole – for absolutely no reason. He simply couldn't be more wrong.

Oh, of course she admired Cole. She absolutely did. He was everything that an agent was supposed to be. She also had to admit that he was exactly the type of man she used to imagine herself with - the suave, rough-and-tumble save-the-world kind of guy. Two years ago she would have been on that plane to Fiji and the promised hot weekend in the sun in a heartbeat. There was even a time in her life - before Chuck, of course - when she would have thought herself quite happy to spend even a night or two with him, painting the town red and having the time of their young, adrenaline-filled lives.

But as much as she admired him, as much as she wanted to count him as a friend, it was a good thing that Cole left. Because another thing was also clear - Chuck's lack of confidence around him was starting to become more than a little annoying. Not only that, it was causing Chuck to do really stupid things trying to compete with him. And the worst part was that Sarah couldn't do a damn thing about it. She would never be able to live with herself if he got seriously injured, or worse, during one of his stunts to one-up Cole.

There was really only one thing that she could say to Chuck that would really fix this. She knew full well that she couldn't tell Chuck that she was crazy about him too, especially not in the courtyard. It was one thing for Cole to guess how she felt about Chuck. After all, Casey had guessed that same thing months ago. She was pretty sure that Beckman already had her suspicions. But the second that Beckman saw a tape of anything close to Sarah admitting it, she'd be reassigned faster than Jeff could find porn on the internet.

She knew Chuck all too well. He had just said it five minutes ago. He was going to get the Intersect out of his head and live a normal life, with the girl that he loved. She wouldn't have had the heart to tell him, even if there had been no cameras, but there was no way that Beckman would ever allow that to happen. If Chuck was ever going to be free of the Intersect, it would have to be by some rogue process. It was hard to imagine what that could possibly be.

It was also pretty plain that he was hoping the girl who he was going to spend his life with . . . the one that he loved . . . would be her. Sarah had to admit – there was a big part of her that was thrilled to hear him say it so plainly. But she also knew the instant that she admitted that she loved him back, he would change. He would become a doting boyfriend. And he would try and change her, change her into that normal girl he wanted so desperately. He would start shopping for that house with the white picket fence tomorrow morning.

Yes, on occasion, Sarah liked to daydream about that herself. The way she allowed herself to feel cooking him that omelet last week bordered on unprofessional. After all, they were in the middle of a mission and she was acting like Martha bloody Stewart. Even with all that, the fact of the matter was she didn't know how normal she could be – or honestly even wanted to be. She could be normal enough to cook him breakfast, but normal enough for a mortgage? Family vacations? Saturday morning softball practices? And the thing is he knew this. He knew she and normalcy didn't exactly coexist peacefully. _Come on, Chuck_. They had already had that exact discussion on this very same spot only a few weeks ago. Of course he would constantly pick a spot where the cameras meant that she really couldn't say anything. That was classic Chuck.

Besides, knowing how she felt would also render him completely unsafe. He wouldn't stay in the damn car as it was. The incredibly sweet moron had already jumped off a three story building to protect her. What would he do if he realized that she loved him too? Not only would Beckman see that coming from a mile away, but Chuck simply wasn't equipped to try and protect her. That was _her_ job – to protect _him_. He was going to get hurt, or worse.

So when Sarah saw Cole come running up, she allowed her shoulders to noticeably sag. This was the last thing that she needed at this point. He was supposed to be gone already. She thought that she had made her position fairly clear in Castle an hour ago. She was staying with Chuck. It's where she wanted - _needed_ - it's where she needed to be. Cole clearly understood what she was really saying to him, even if he had pressed a bit further than she was comfortable with. Cole must have realized that, even if he was right, she couldn't admit anything in Castle. Every facial expression was being analyzed. She had to pretend to not know what he was talking about. Even the little that she did say was probably too much. At least she didn't mention Chuck's name. So she could argue to Beckman that she was referring to Cole, should Beckman be so bold as to confront her.

So why was he back? Was he _trying_ to get her reassigned?

Fortunately Cole didn't give her a chance to express any frustration. "Chuck's cover has been blown," he said quickly. "They're coming for him. If you want him to live, get him in the car in two minutes."

Sarah immediately snapped into agent mode, as swiftly as if someone had flicked a light switch. Chuck was in danger. Whatever mood she was in a second ago was totally and completely forgotten.

"What about his sister?" she asked as she hurried toward the door.

"She'll have to come with us," Cole answered. His demeanor was typical Cole, oozing confidence even through the stress. His smile belied the fact that the situation was clearly critical. His voice sounded like he was talking about picking up his dry cleaning - not an imminent live or death crisis. "Agent Casey went to collect Dr. Woodcomb. Fulcrum agents are on the way. We may have two minutes. If they get here before we can leave, we'll have to shoot it out," he informed her as he checked his gun clip, clearly not about to shy away from that possibility.

Sarah nodded. She knew full well what that meant. They would quickly be outnumbered and overwhelmed. They would surely kill her and Cole. But they would want Chuck alive. Maybe they would take Ellie alive as well, if it wasn't too much of an inconvenience. After all, Chuck would do anything to keep his sister from suffering any indignities at their hands. Sarah also knew what her orders were. The Intersect couldn't fall into Fulcrum hands. The war may well depend on it. That was the very first rule of this mission.

The problem was that Sarah knew there was only one way to keep that from happening, but she also knew there was no way she would be able to kill Chuck. She had stopped pretending to herself that it was even a possibility. That train had left the station over a year ago. That single fact alone meant that she was no longer an effective agent, that she should request reassignment, for Chuck's sake, for everybody's. But she also knew that it wasn't going to happen. She was already far too compromised. This was no longer an assignment. He was her life. They would have to drag her away from protecting him.

Of course, the other factor was that Cole would fully understand that order as well, and if push came to shove, he wouldn't have the same qualms about executing it. That couldn't happen. "Understand something," Sarah snapped, stopping and turning on her heel as she reached the door. "Nobody terminates Chuck except for me. That will be my call."

If Cole was surprised at the harshness of Sarah's tone, he didn't show it. "As you wish," he nodded. "I'm going to go get into ambush position. I'll meet you in the car."

In spite of the tenseness of the situation, Sarah had to smile, a little. If Cole was able to ambush the approaching agents, a whole lot of them would soon be wearing body bags. Nobody was better at his job than Cole, except for maybe Casey. Unfortunately, there would be more than enough enemies to overwhelm him, more than enough to capture Chuck. The only solution would be if they could escape undetected. Sarah had two minutes to get Chuck and Ellie into that car, or lose him forever.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was still looking wistfully at Chuck's bedroom door when Sarah burst into the room. She knew that Chuck would be able to read the look on her face, and he would know better than to argue. It was Ellie who was going to be the problem. But they didn't have time to be gentle. This was life or death. She also knew that she couldn't panic Ellie. That would waste precious time. So she forced herself to take a deep breath.

"Ellie," she said as calmly as she could, "we have somewhat of a situation. I need you to come with me." Then Sarah raised her voice. "Chuck!" she called. "I need to see you . . . right away."

Ellie, beyond being confused about this 'situation,' had, quite frankly, had it. They clearly had just had another fight. This was getting entirely too old. "Sarah," she said forcefully, "what is going on? You two have been fighting so much, but there has to be more to it. You know you can talk to me."

Sarah didn't have any time to be gentle. Even if she did, she really wouldn't know what to say anyway. "Ellie," she said as calmly as she could, "this isn't what it looks like. It's critical that you come with me, right now. No questions asked. _Please_."

Ellie blew out a huge sigh. "I don't think so," she said. "Look, Sarah. You know that I like you. Nobody has been rooting for you guys more than I have. But maybe you two should just give up once and for all. I mean, you're making each other miserable, and I hate seeing both of you like that."

Sarah didn't know what to do. The irony was that Ellie didn't have a clue just how right she was. It wasn't working, and they were both, indeed, incredibly miserable. She was just wrong about the 'why'. In fact, the cause for their unhappiness was almost the exact opposite of what she was assuming. But one thing was for sure. This was not the time to try and fix it. Certainly Ellie's not-so-subtle attempt at relationship counseling was going to take far too long. That only left Sarah one option – fear. So she pulled her gun out of her back waistband and pointed it at Ellie.

"I'll explain this later," she said. "But for right now, I'm issuing you a direct order. I need you to come with me. Now."

Naturally Ellie's eyes widened in fear. Of course, Chuck picked that exact instant to come bounding out of his bedroom. To his credit, he immediately understood that something was critically wrong. For Sarah to break her cover like this . . .

"What's going on?" he asked, voice trembling a little as he limped to a halt in front of the pair of women he cared about most.

"Sarah's gone completely nuts," Ellie said as she slowly raised her hands. "What kind of fight did you two have anyway?"

"Chuck," Sarah said, "we have to leave. Right now. Please help me with Ellie."

There was a desperation in Sarah's voice that both siblings picked up on.

"Come on, sis," Chuck said with as much of a smile as he could force. "It's okay. Sarah isn't going to shoot you. Let's go. She'll explain in a minute."

x-x-x-x-x

Cole had seen them approaching and was already in the driver's seat when they got to the car. Sarah went to Chuck's side and tried to help him. After all, he couldn't very well run with his cast. She had hated having to scare Ellie by pulling her gun. That was a fence that was going to require some serious mending. But that was simply going to have to wait. Right now, they had to get out of the area before the Fulcrum agents could spot them. Unless they could avoid being followed, they were sitting ducks.

Sarah helped Chuck get into the passenger seat. There was more room for his foot there. Ellie got in the rear seat directly behind him. Sarah ran around and got in the other side behind Cole. Ellie was clearly uncomfortable sitting next to her.

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked.

"Anyplace but here," Cole answered briskly as her threw the car into drive and sped off.

"Excuse me," Ellie said with her eyes widened in surprise. "Just who are you? Prince Charles?"

"It's okay, Ellie," Sarah said as she looked anxiously out the windows for any sign that they were being pursued. "This is Cole. He's a friend of mine." Sarah grimaced as soon as the words were out of her mouth. That was exactly the wrong thing to say. Indeed, Chuck was staring sadly at her. "I mean he's a friend of Chuck's and mine," she tried to correct. Too little, too late. Chuck had already turned back around, slumped in his seat and was starring aimlessly out the windshield.

Luckily, Cole stepped in for the save. "Cole Barker, at your service," he said, grinning at Ellie in the rearview. "Lovely to make your acquaintance, though I apologize for the circumstances."

"I need your cell phones," Sarah said, desperately in need of a change of subject. "Chuck, I need your watch."

Chuck handed them to her wordlessly. "My phone is still in the apartment," Ellie confessed, her tone wavering between terrified and angry. "Are you going to shoot me now?"

Sarah sighed at the abhorrence coming from Ellie, the underlying desperation and confusion. She rolled down the window and threw the phones and the watch on the ground just before Cole pulled onto the freeway.

"I'm sorry, Ellie," she said softly. "I understand how this must look to you. I promise that there is an explanation. Just wait until we stop and I'll tell you everything."

This situation was beyond messed up. Her cover with Ellie was now blown forever, and there was no way to explain this away. Almost as bad, Chuck was in the front seat pouting, again. And she had just pointed her weapon at perhaps her best female friend, someone she genuinely liked, maybe even more than liked, maybe even looked at as family. The look on Ellie's face was plain though. This wasn't going to be forgiven easily.

But they had escaped – alive. From where they were just two minutes ago, that was a big victory.

x-x-x-x-x

The last thing Sarah wanted to do was go into that room to face Ellie. Simply the thought of the fury on her friend's face was enough to make it difficult to breath, and she had to resort to pacing the balcony in order to calm herself down. They were in a dingy motel room on the outskirts of town. It was the kind of place that would accept cash, the kind that didn't ask questions. Cole had gotten two rooms, but it unfortunately wasn't a motel to have adjoining rooms. In fact, the rooms they were given weren't all that close to each other. And since there had to be an agent with a weapon in each room, boys in one room and girls in the other seemed like the logical arrangement.

The look on Chuck's face when she asked him to take Ellie into the room and wait while she talked to Cole broke her heart. It was obvious what he was thinking. But she just didn't have time to deal with Chuck's silly jealousy right now, and she hated the fact that he couldn't put his petty jealousy out of the way in the face of their current predicament, in the face of his safety. The reality was that she had to find out the situation, from the only person who knew, and that was a conversation that she sure didn't want to have in front of Chuck or, even worse, Ellie.

Fortunately, Cole told her that Casey was going to collect Devon and they were going to rendezvous here tomorrow. Hopefully, being with Devon would help calm Ellie a little. The bad thing was that being with Casey wasn't going to do much too calm Chuck. Casey was clearly enjoying rubbing the situation with Cole into his already fragile psyche. _That's all we need_. At least he would be another set of eyes, and, more importantly, another gun.

As far as the current situation, they weren't sure yet if or how Chuck's cover was blown. They were lucky that one of the prisoners who had been captured in yesterday's mission had talked. There was no mention that they knew Chuck was the Intersect - yet. He was just identified as a person to be picked up and questioned. Beckman had instructed them to go completely off the grid for two weeks and then check in using back channels. Hopefully by then they would have better intelligence.

Sarah didn't need Cole to explain the implications. She knew full well what it meant if Chuck was discovered. Chuck's safety up until now had depended upon his hiding in plain sight by blending into normal society. That was the whole reason Chuck and Casey worked at the stupid Buy More and she dressed daily in that ridiculous yogurt girl outfit (although it was infinitely better than the Weinerlicious getup). Once his identity was known, there was simply no way to protect him in anywhere close to a normal setting. Now the only hope was that they could contain the extent of who knew what about Chuck. If his cover were truly blown, it was over. Beckman would insist on taking Chuck to a bunker. And since Sarah had already promised herself there was no way she was ever going to allow that to happen . . . things were about to come to a head. The irresistible force was on course to meet the unmovable object.

But first things first - Sarah really had no idea what to say to Ellie. How did you tell someone that you actually cared for that you had been lying to them for two years? And talking about feelings had never been one of Sarah's strengths. Not only that, Sarah clearly wasn't Ellie's favorite person at the moment, an understatement which bordered on ridiculous. Her eyes were burning a hole right through Sarah's chest as soon as she walked in the door.

Sarah had to call on her training to keep her hands from shaking. She took a deep breath. "Okay, Ellie," she finally said. "It's time to tell you the truth."

x-x-x-x-x


	2. The Twisted Sister

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

_This is the story of relationships - and choices. Those choices will be driven by all of the usual reasons people make choices – love, lust, duty, greed, fear, hate, jealousy. Some choices will lead new relationships to form and grow strong. Some choices will cause existing relationships to be tested and endure – whiles others will be tested and perhaps not survive. And finally some choices will cause relationships that once looked promising to never really form. But most of all, this is the story of two women's individual choices – and how true Sarah's statement to Cole really was…_

**The Twisted Sister**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah could barely believe how angry Ellie looked. She had actually hoped that Chuck might have calmed her down a little while she was outside talking to Cole, but it seemed he was still too pissed off about Cole's presence to help her out. It was hard to imagine the look of pure hatred she was currently directing towards her.

"Don't even try it," Ellie hissed. "I doubt that you would know the truth if it bit you in the ass."

Sarah knew that she had to fix this with Ellie. At least she had to try. Ellie was far too important . . . to Chuck, of course, and hence the mission to simply ignore, even if Sarah herself were willing to, and she wasn't.

"Ellie," she pleaded, "please. You're angry, betrayed. I understand that. But if you think I wanted to lie to you, then you're wrong. We . . . we were just trying to protect you. That's why we lied."

"Spare me," Ellie snapped. "I know all about that. Chuck already told me that the less I knew, the safer I'd be. I'm not crazy about being lied to. But I can appreciate the motive. I could understand that . . . I guess."

Now Sarah was puzzled. If she wasn't mad about that . . . "Trust me," she said. "I understand that the situation is dangerous, and scary. But I'm doing everything that I possibly can to keep Chuck safe. We all are."

"Go to hell," Ellie sighed as she turned away, arms crossed over her abdomen as she paced toward the window. "Trust? You would dare talk to me about _trust_? This has nothing to do with the danger. You're not the bad guy here; I get that. Chuck told me all about how you're always risking your life for him. You want a thank you? Fine. Thank you. But never talk to me about trust again. You don't have that right."

"Okay, Ellie," Sarah began shakily, feeling more and more like she's on uneven terrain with each passing moment, "if you're not mad about the lying, and you're not mad about the danger . . ."

"He loves you," Ellie interrupted loudly. "Not only will you not allow him to move on, not only will you not give him a chance to find someone who actually does care for him, no, you have to move in for the kill. Except you don't really kill him – you just make him suffer by twisting the knife and screwing someone else right in front of him. Sarah, go to hell. Just… just… go straight to hell."

Her voice wavered with the threat, as if the weight of it was too much to bear for someone so used to a world of goodness, as if she cared too much to really follow through on any unkind thoughts.

Sarah had been in fights to the death more times than she could count. She had been captured and tortured. But she had never faced anyone who could carry so much emotion as Ellie Bartowski. She'd never met anyone who had simultaneously terrified her and made her long for the comforting circle of family.

She sank to the foot of the bed and confessed softly, "I do care for Chuck. I understand that the current situation is not the best, for either of us."

"Bullshit," Ellie said suddenly, turning to face her with a vigorous shake of her head. "Chuck told me. Do you have a clue what you're doing to him? Do you honestly have any idea what it's like to watch someone who you love screwing someone else? And he can't even get away from you. That's just inhumane."

And actually Sarah did know the feeling that Ellie was talking about. She knew it exactly. Ellie was absolutely right about that. It did suck. But it probably wasn't the best time to tell Ellie about the scene of a couple of months ago when she herself had to watch the surveillance footage of Chuck rolling around in bed with Jill Roberts - or last year when she had to watch Chuck and Lou's necking steam up the Nerd Herder. To explain that she felt the exact same way as Chuck would only put him in more danger.

"Look, Ellie," Sarah said quietly, "I understand what Chuck thinks is going on between Cole and me. But the thing is he's got it all wrong and he's letting his jealousy blind him. Cole's a colleague, nothing more. He's a hero, and he's a friend to Chuck, and he's working just as hard to protect him as I am. But there is absolutely nothing romantic going on between us. Chuck is _wrong_."

"Come off it," Ellie said sarcastically. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Sarah had reached her limit of being treated like a punching bag. As much as she admired Ellie Bartowski, she wasn't going to let her push her around. Not about Chuck. Not when he was the most important thing to her and somehow no one could see that. She'd always had a problem with anger, but anger wouldn't help her right now. So, hands on her hips, she paced the room and briefly contemplated launching the ash tray against the wall, simply to vent her seemingly endless frustration.

"He's wrong," she said in a quiet, deadly voice. "You both are. And I don't have to defend myself to either of you." Without waiting for a reply, she stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door. Maybe a hot shower will help her calm down, give Ellie some breathing space. She took a seat on the closed toilet, letting her head hang into her hands as she let out a heavy sigh.

This was the worst thing that could possibly have happened. She was already on edge about Chuck's safety; the last thing she needed to be worrying about was explaining a relationship to Ellie that she could barely get a handle on herself. The only things she could be sure of were that Chuck was safer when they weren't together, and that, despite that, she was happier around him.

But Ellie was the kind of person to never let an adversary walk away from an argument, the kind of person to not let something of import go that easily.

"Do you even know what he's been through?" Ellie shouted through the door, and Sarah could almost see her pacing frantically around the room, arms up in indignation. "Do you understand what Jill did to him? Not just five years ago but only a couple of months ago as well? Do you have a clue how hurt he's been, how fragile he is?

Sarah, lips pursed in anger, had to force a breath into her lungs for composure. If Ellie only knew the irony of her words . . . She jumped up to fling open the door to find Ellie standing halfway across the room, fury on her face.

"You don't understand, Ellie," she began haltingly, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Chuck and I . . . It's . . . Ellie, it's complicated. No, we're not together like you thought, but . . . I do care for him. And the last thing I want is for him to get hurt."

"And what about you?" Ellie demanded. "Do you even understand that he's in love with you? That a good man would do absolutely anything for you and you're throwing his heart around? Do you understand how cruel that makes you look?"

Sarah sighed, trying to ignore the tingle that ran through her stomach at those words. This wasn't the place for it, especially given the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Yes," she finally said. "I understand. It would be better for everybody if he weren't in love with me. He knows that, or he should anyway. But he is, and has been for a while. I do understand that. I'm not trying to be cruel."

"So," Ellie frowned, "what are you going to do about it?"

"'Do'?" Sarah repeated, frustration seeping into her voice. "There's nothing to do, and he knows that. Chuck . . . the best thing I can do for him is my job, to keep him safe at all costs. He needs someone protecting him who doesn't have emotional investment; his life depends on that. Fulcrum will stop at nothing to get to him, and if they did, they'd be doing him a favor by killing him." Holding up a threatening finger, she continued, "Understand, Ellie, that I am never, ever going to allow that to happen. He needs me . . . to be strong. I owe him that."

And that was when the very last thing that Sarah ever expected to happen in this situation happened. Ellie smiled. It was faint, true, but it was clearly a smile.

"Oh, my God . . ." the brunette murmured, "I knew it. You love Chuck, don't you, Sarah? Probably even more than he loves you." Her smile widened. "You may be a superspy, Sarah Walker, but you're not fooling me."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was trying hard not to be tense. After all, he actually liked Cole, thought they would actually be friends if the circumstances were different. It wasn't his fault that Sarah had a thing for him. Come on, what woman wouldn't?

"I thought that you were leaving," he said, aware of how passive-aggressive the statement was.

"I was," Cole said with a dazzling smile, already stretched out on the bed, one arm folded behind his head. He'd taken his button-down off and the tank he was still wearing showed off his toned muscles. "I was just on my way out when the alert came in. Since we assumed that the cell phones were all compromised, General Beckman asked me to come and get you two. Why didn't you tell me that you have such a gorgeous sister? At least that's some consolation to going off the grid in order to run from the bad guys."

Chuck assumed that Cole was kidding. "She's engaged," he said with a laugh. "Besides, you'd better not let Sarah hear you say that. I'm pretty sure she's the jealous type, and I've seen her throw a knife."

Cole studied Chuck for a long moment. Then his smile turned into a mischievous grin. "You really don't have a clue," he asked, "do you?"

"I guess not," Chuck said with his own grin, although one that was warier than his colleague's. "Because I sure don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"Sarah," Cole drawled. "I'm talking about Sarah, Chuckster, and how there's no way she would ever be jealous of me and your sister."

"Why would you say that?" Chuck asked. "Everyone gets jealous at some level. It's only human."

"I'm sure that she would," Cole said. "I expect that Sarah would be quite the jealous type, except I wouldn't be the one she'd be getting jealous about. She's not interested, turned me down flat. Didn't she tell you?"

Chuck just shook his head, obviously confused.

"Good God, man," Cole said with a laugh. "You really don't understand women at all, do you? It seems that Agent Walker has found herself quite smitten with her asset."

"She said that?" Chuck asked incredulously, sitting up on the bed, suddenly interested. "She said that she was smitten?"

"Not exactly," Cole said. "He didn't use the word 'smitten.' How could she? We were in Castle. If she said that, she'd be reassigned faster than the French Army calls for a retreat. But she didn't have to. Her meaning was clear."

Chuck was obviously stunned. More than a little pleased, but quite stunned. "That's . . . uh, that's good," he stammered. "Because I don't even know what smitten means anyway. I take it that it's good."

"It's good," Cole laughed. "More than good. It's bloody victory. But you do realize that you're never going to get between her and her knickers acting this way, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked.

"A woman doesn't respond well to sulking," Cole said. "If you want her, go and tell her. You've got to be confident. That's the secret. That's the way to get a woman like Sarah."

"Didn't work out so well for you, though, did it?" Chuck asked, working hard to keep the triumph off his face. His heart nearly felt like it was soaring.

Cole barked out a deep laugh. "Of course it didn't. Confidence is only one part. The other part is . . . out of my arena."

"And what is that?"

Cole sighed, a strange sorrow pulling over his strong features. "Love," he confessed quietly, and Chuck was astonished to see the sudden change in him. He was so used to the confident agent that he didn't know how to react to the sad man before him now. But Cole cleared his throat, smiled ruefully, and said, "You've got that in the bag, though. She's already in love with you; you just need a bit more confidence to seal the deal."

Chuck frowned. "I'm not trying to 'seal the deal.' I just want to know if she cares for me."

Cole's grin returned in full force as he rolled onto his stomach and plumped the pillow beneath his head. "How did I get so lucky as to get stuck with the two most clueless agents in the CIA?" he chuckled before closing his eyes.

Chuck regarded him contemplatively. Here was one of the best agents in MI-6, someone who, an hour ago, he'd thought was invincible. But there had been a misery in his eyes that Chuck couldn't ignore, something that gave him pause.

"You're a superspy," Chuck said quietly. "And you're really telling me you know nothing about love?"

"Attraction, yes," Cole nodded. "Sex, yes. Love, not so much. But if I ever happen to find myself in that sort of situation, you'll be the only one I come to for advice."

Chuck sighed and leaned back against the headboard. Given that one man in this room was an international superspy and the other was a nerd with a computer stuck in his brain, he found Cole's claim a little hard to believe. "What should I do?" he queried, a bit nervously, wondering if he was ready to put his jealousy aside and trust this guy.

Opening an eye to peer at him, Cole smiled. "Do about what?"

"Sarah. I need to apologize, and I feel like I should give her some time to cool off, because it's Sarah, and she's a little . . . fiery, but I also just have this feeling in my gut. I don't want to let her go the whole night thinking I'm a jerk. But I also don't want to go and try to apologize and have her rip my head off tonight. So I'm thinking tomorrow morning may be the better option. Maybe bring her some coffee? She likes sugar in it, I know that."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Cole stopped him. "Slow down, buddy. Didn't I just say I didn't know anything about this? I'm probably not the one you should be asking."

"Yeah, but . . ." Chuck shrugged, "you seem to know her."

Cole laughed and flipped onto his back again. Chuck and Sarah really didn't seem to get it. "Fine, you want my advice? I've learned that apologies are always welcome."

"Okay," Chuck nodded, starting to feel a bit better about this arrangement, "okay, so, we agree that an apology is good. But the question is: tonight or tomorrow? Or, you know, next week, when she's _really_ had a chance to calm down?"

Smiling mirthfully, Cole answered, "The sooner the better, I think. And remember, Chuckster, _confidence_."

x-x-x-x-x

For a moment, Sarah was too stunned to speak. Where was this even coming from? She was used to Ellie's eternal optimism, not this rapid turnabout in moods. One thing was for sure - Sarah could absolutely not tell her the truth. Chuck would know thirty seconds later. But what to say? Ellie clearly thought she had figured something out. And when in doubt, bluff.

"Ellie, I can't have this conversation with you," she finally said. "It's not appropriate. I have a job to do that is vitally important to national security. There are rules. It would be like me asking you to discuss a patient." It was a lame argument, she knew, but it was all she had.

Now there could be no mistake - Ellie was clearly smiling. She _knew_. At least, she thought that she knew.

"Let's keep this discussion at a theoretical level," Ellie suggested. "That wouldn't break any rules, right? I mean, I'd discuss patients with you on a theoretical level. So what are the rules?"

Like she often was around the Bartowski family, Sarah was at a loss for what to do. At least Ellie had calmed down a little. However, refusing to talk would end any progress they were making. But the last thing that she needed was for Ellie to tell Chuck that she was in love with him – the very last thing.

"This is theoretical only?" Sarah asked cautiously.

"Absolutely," Ellie assured her. "I just want to understand. Why can't an agent fall in love with her . . . umm . . ."

"Asset," Sarah finished the question. "Chuck is called an asset. The agent is called a handler. It's actually pretty similar to why a doctor can't fall in love with her patient. You lose your objectivity. A handler's job is to protect her asset, but also to control him when it's required." Sarah decided to stop short of telling Ellie that a handler also had to be prepared to sometimes put a bullet between her asset's eyes, so she continued, "When you love someone, you make decisions based on the short term. If you had to decide to amputate Chuck's leg to save his life, you'd wait until the last possible second, right? You wouldn't want to do it. Maybe that would even cause you to wait too long. You'd stop making decisions based upon pure medical factors. Well, it's the same with an agent."

"I hate to be the one to tell you," Ellie said, "I understand that doctors aren't supposed to become involved with patients, but it happens, more often than you'd think. I'm guessing that it also happens with agents and . . . what was it again – assets?"

"Yes," Sarah admitted, "it does happen. That's why the agent's superiors are constantly looking for any sign. The second that they even suspect that the handler is compromised, she is immediately reassigned."

"And since you haven't been reassigned," Ellie said as her smile turned into more of a smirk, "I assume that you've been able to keep your feelings for Chuck a secret."

Sarah's face most definitely turned red. "Please, Ellie," she said, "I'm not sure what you think that you know, but please don't give Chuck any reason to hope. It won't help the situation. He'll just get all excited and get me reassigned for sure. You know Chuck."

"And why would you care?" Ellie asked softly, a hint of mischief in her tone. "Come on, Sarah, you can't argue it both ways. You're claiming to not be in love with him. But if that's true, it makes him just a job to you, right? You'd be reassigned to another one. I assume that happens all the time. They would just bring in another agent to protect him, one who isn't compromised, one he's not in love with. What difference would it make to you?"

Damn, she was good. Sarah didn't even see that trap coming. Now the red in her face was more like purple. "Ellie," she whispered, "please."

"I'll make you a deal," Ellie said as her smile took a wicked turn. "You tell me the truth, and we'll keep it between us."

"Come on, Ellie," Sarah said pleadingly. "I know how much you love Chuck. You raised him for goodness' sake. For all intents and purposes, you're his mom and dad and sister all rolled into one. How could you possibly keep this from him? If you even thought that I was in love with Chuck, you'd run and tell him the first chance you got."

"That's not necessarily true," Ellie placated. "Sure, I love Chuck. Of course I want him to be happy. And you being in love with him would certainly be a big step in the right direction. I would love for him to understand that. But it wouldn't do me any good to tell him. I've already told him that – many, many times. He'll never really believe it until you tell him." She shook her head and grinned. "Nope, you're the only one I'm going to work on. Because, Sarah, I also love you. You're the sister I never had, and I'm not about to give that up because of some stupid rules. I can see you're hurting too. You're just as miserable as he is. So you've got to trust me, Sarah. You won't be telling me anything I don't already know; I just want to hear you say it. Let me be your friend. Tell me the truth. I can help you, and hopefully we can help Chuck. I'm not your asset. You wouldn't be breaking any rules. But I think that you can use a friend right now. Please, just let me be that friend."

Sarah, frowning, turned around, unable to take the earnestness on Ellie's face any longer. Reaching a hand up, she separated the blind and took a quick peek out into the dark night. "It can't happen," she told her sadly. "There are just too many barriers. Even if we could . . . Chuck would blow it and get me reassigned the first day. Besides," she shook her head, "we just want different things right now. I'm not you, Ellie. I'm not looking to be a wife and mother, at least not now. But that's what Chuck wants, and I can't be that."

"So what?" Ellie interrupted. "You can always work around that stuff, compro-"

"No, Ellie," Sarah said, turning around again, "it's not just that. The very real fact here is that Chuck's life is in danger, danger he isn't trained to deal with. He's already making stupid decisions trying to protect me. If he knew how I really felt, he'd get himself killed because of me. I can't allow that to happen. And if you really want to be my friend, you'll help me explain this all to him. You're the only one who can get him to see that this can't happen, help him to move on. That would help us both."

"Maybe," Ellie frowned thoughtfully. "If that's truly the right thing, I'll be open to it. Because everything you say, those are legitimate issues, no question about it. But before we talk about the cure, let's fully understand the sickness. I want you to look at me. You can't fool me, Sarah. You're hopelessly in love with him, aren't you?"

Sarah starred at her feet for a long moment. It was quickly becoming pointless to try and deny what was so painfully obvious. And maybe she could talk Ellie into talking to Chuck. She was the best hope in getting him to move on.

"Yes," she finally whispered. "I'm in love with him. But it doesn't matter." There was so much more she wanted to say - that she loved him so hard it hurt, that she'd never met anyone like Chuck, that the way he looked at her made her feel like she could overcome anything, that she never imagined she could feel this strongly about a man. "Hopelessly in love," she murmured softly, "but a hopeless situation."

Suddenly Ellie had Sarah wrapped in her arms. "I knew it," she smiled. "Sarah, don't worry. All of those things that are in your way will work out. You love each other. Do you understand how incredibly special that is? We'll find a way."

"I don't see how," Sarah sighed as she hesitantly allowed herself to reciprocate the embrace. "It seems pretty impossible."

"I understand," Ellie said soothingly. "We'll move heaven and earth to find a way, but it's too fantastic of a romantic story to not work out."

"From where I come from," Sarah said, "romance doesn't get you very far. Will you help me get Chuck to move on? You said that you would be open to it."

"I understand," Ellie said. "But from where I come from, romance gets you everywhere. I said I would be open to talking to him if it were truly the right thing. Surely you're going to give me a chance to help you work out the issues first, right? Let's make a deal. Give me two weeks. If, after that, I haven't convinced you that there is a path forward, I'll help you talk him down."

The arrangement, while not ideal, actually gave Sarah some hope. Not for her and Chuck being together, never for that. That was hopeless. But Ellie could get Chuck to see the truth. She was the only one who could get him to stop hurting. What would it hurt for Ellie to spend a couple of weeks trying? After all, it was impossible, and two weeks wasn't that much longer to wait.

"Two weeks?" she asked hesitantly. "Then you'll talk to him for me?"

"Yes," Ellie said, "but I want to warn you – I'm not giving up easily. Tell me, Sarah . . . what's your favorite meal?"

"Favorite meal?" Sarah asked, puzzled. "Lobster. Why?"

"Mine is a nice rare filet," Ellie informed her. "I know that it's not good for you, but I can't help it. Let's you and I make a friendly wager. If, at the end of two weeks, you and Chuck are together, you make a big deal out of telling me that I was right, in front of Chuck, and take us out for a filet dinner. Devon will surely confirm that I love when people are forced to admit I was right. However, if you're not together, I'll talk to Chuck for you and take you out for lobster. Either way, we'll both get sloppy drunk. Do we have a bet?"

"Okay," Sarah said with a sigh, "we have a bet. Believe me, I really wish there were a way for you to win. I just don't see it happening. To be totally honest, the sloppy drunk part isn't sounding half-bad right now. At least I get a lobster dinner out of the deal."

"We'll see," Ellie grinned. "One more thing though. Sweetie, I'm sorry for yelling earlier. I needed to get you to admit the truth. And I figured, if you could lie to me for two years, I could lie to you for ten minutes. Sorry! I know that seems manipulative. But I was just trying to be your friend."

Sarah couldn't keep the bewildered smile from her face as what Ellie just said sunk in. _Sonofabitch! She just played me? _Sarah couldn't quite decide if that was evil or completely brilliant. Maybe it was both. Either way, she made a mental note to never underestimate Ellie again.

"Ellie," she said softly. "Have you ever thought about becoming an agent?"

_Maybe I shouldn't count on eating lobster just yet._

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when a knock sounded at the door. Since all they had with them was the clothes on their backs, getting ready for bed wasn't going to take all that long anyway, but maybe it would afford her a few minutes' conversation alone. Maybe Cole had a security issue before they all turned in. Maybe Chuck . . . She tried to not think about what Chuck could want.

But it somehow didn't surprise her to see him at the door. "Chuck," she greeted, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She was half-relieved to see him and half-wondering if he would continue their argument from earlier. "Come in. What's wrong?"

Chuck shook his head and stayed where he was, hands shoved into his jean pockets, smiling as he recognized Sarah's agent instinct kicking in. "Nothing's wrong," he assured her. "Something's been bothering me, that's all. I really need to tell you something."

Sarah frowned, leaning her head against the open door. She simply wasn't up for any more angst tonight. "All right . . ." she prompted cautiously.

"I want to tell you that I'm sorry," Chuck breathed. Shrugging sheepishly, he added, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm sort of a jealous person by nature. I was jealous of Bryce, of Cole, of pretty much every guy you've had to get close to for a mission. I was jealous of the clerk at the restaurant yesterday who was trying to look down your shirt. I was even jealous when you had dinner with your dad. I guess . . . I guess I've always been insecure. Anyway, I've been acting all mopey and immature. I get that. And the honest truth is - I've been making us both miserable. You don't deserve that."

He sighed, seeming to get bogged down in his words. She'd nearly forgotten how cute he was when he rambled.

"So I've decided . . ." he continued. "Look, it's no secret that I want more. I still do, and I'm no longer going to be shy about you knowing. But this . . . this isn't your fault. I know you've got . . . duties, rules. So I'm just going to be happy with what we've got. After all, whatever this is, it's more than I have any right to expect."

Sarah had to purse her lips and swallow to keep her emotions in check. "Why is that?" she asked, embarrassed to hear the slight quiver in her voice.

Chuck smiled at her like it should be obvious. "Because you're amazing."

Sarah had to blink pretty quickly to keep the tears from being noticeable. She'd been on the receiving end of lots of sweet talking before. She could barely walk into a club without a line of guys trying to be smooth. Hell, she could barely walk down the street without getting whistled at. But Chuck . . . he never ceased to surprise her, never ceased to be able to make her heart skip a beat with just a few words.

"That was, that was very sweet," she said softly. She wanted to tell him about all the times _she_ had been the victim of jealousy - his brief romance with Lou, the rekindling of his relationship with Jill. But she was still Sarah, still used to keeping those things tucked deep inside. However, there were a few things she could stand to get off her chest. "As long as we're being honest, though, can I tell you how much it frustrates me when you pout? You're never less attractive to me than when you're acting jealous. I know our relationship is technically a cover, but _you_ should know, I'd never betray it."

"Thanks," Chuck said with a grin. "I guess it's a sign of how mature our cover relationship is if you're so open about what you don't like about me. This is exactly the kind of feedback I need . . . if I ever find myself in a real relationship." His voice had trailed off a bit, but his mood suddenly picked up again as he said, "By the way, as long as we're having this discussion, just for a future point of reference, when am I _most_ attractive to you?"

Instead of answering, Sarah simply grinned. "Goodnight, Chuck. I'll see you in the morning," she said with a soft laugh. He moved to go, but she added, "But before you go, it seems only fair . . . When am I least attractive to you?"

"I'll tell you," Chuck shrugged, a soft smile playing over his face as he took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Walking away, he threw a glance over his shoulder. "If I ever think of anything, I'll tell you."

Sarah watched him go, focused on his retreating footsteps instead of the fuzziness in her stomach. That was her Chuck, that was her guy, and it was exactly what she needed to hear tonight. It sort of amazed her how he always knew. He really was sweet, the sweetest guy in the world. And it was moments like this that made her believe that maybe, just maybe, Ellie could be right.

"I was wrong. This isn't even going to take two weeks."

Sarah nearly jumped at the sound of Ellie's voice, and when she turned around, she was twice as startled to see her standing right beside her. A hand over her heart, she tried to not think about how easily her walls came down around these two.

"Ellie," she smiled, "you startled me."

Ellie just grinned and took a seat on the bed. "Oh, so we're going to pretend that I did _not_ just witness the most adorable conversation ever? Okay, fine."

Sarah tried futilely to avoid Ellie's gloating gaze. The doctor was clearly enjoying this. Flustered, she said, "I . . . have to go get ready for bed. We both need our rest. Lots to do tomorrow."

Ellie, eyes sparkling with mirth, watched her retreat into the bathroom. "Just remember," she called after her, "I like my filet on the rare side."

x-x-x-x-x


	3. The Mall

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Mall**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck looked around the table in disbelief. He'd had some strange breakfast experiences, but this morning was beyond strange. It was downright surreal. Ellie _should_ have been freaking out right about now. His sister was the very symbol of stability, and this situation was anything but stable. Oh, make no mistake. She clearly recognized that they were in danger, and she was also clearly concerned. Yet here she was, sitting there sharing secret looks with Sarah like they had just come from a slumber party. They obviously had worked some things out last night.

And Sarah, well, Sarah was always uncommonly beautiful. He had thought she was gorgeous the first day he met her, and she had only grown more beautiful since he had gotten to know her. But this morning, it was as if something fundamental had changed. Sure, she was down to business as she surveyed the small greasy spoon for any possible threats, but there was also a peaceful air about her. Missing was the sad aura that had constantly surrounded her for the past couple of weeks. She was clearly having as much of a good time as the current circumstance would possibly allow. It was the most relaxed that Chuck had seen her since that morning in the suburbs. It made her even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

Not only did Chuck expect Ellie to be freaked out more about their situation, everybody except for Cole only had the clothes that they had on their backs, since yesterday. For Doctor Eleanor Bartowski to be forced into wearing the same outfit two days in a row was like . . . Well, honestly, Chuck could never remember it ever happening before.

That was most definitely one thing that Chuck shared in common with his sister. He didn't like feeling unkempt. He absolutely hated it when he couldn't shave. After all, Cole's two-day growth made him look rugged, sexy even. Chuck's only made him look like a bum.

Ellie and Sarah had obviously made a deal to get through breakfast without any tension. Ellie at least waited until they were finishing up their pancakes to start asking questions.

"Tell me," she said, "How much real danger are we in here?"

Sarah, for her part, was plainly trying to be reassuring. "In the short term, not much," she said. "Nobody knows where we are. As long as that's true, we'll be okay."

"How about Devon?" Ellie asked.

"Agent Casey and Doctor Woodcomb are going to meet us at noon in front of the main entrance of the Briarside mall," Cole said.

"Don't worry, Ellie," Chuck said with a heartening grin. "Casey is almost as bad-ass as Sarah here. Devon will be fine."

"Chuck's right," Sarah said with a grin directed towards Chuck. "About Devon being fine anyway. Casey is nowhere close to being as bad-ass. But don't worry about Devon. As soon as we meet, we'll go together someplace and lie low for two weeks."

"What about after that?" Ellie asked softly. "Sarah, who are these people and why are they after Chuck in the first place?"

Sarah met Ellie's gaze, lips pursed anxiously. They had made some great progress last night, but would that necessarily translate into trust? Especially when Ellie learned of the real danger her brother was in? She decided that a little honesty would be the best thing right now.

"I really don't know about after that," she admitted. "We'll have to play that one by ear. Ellie, I know that you have a million questions about what's going on. I'm sorry, but I can't talk about most of that, for two reasons. First, it's highly classified. But, more importantly, knowing any specifics would make you less safe." She frowned. "We talked a lot about trust last night, and I hope you still feel like you can trust me. I will never let anybody hurt either of you."

Ellie didn't really answer, not with words, but the twinkle in her eye as she nodded spoke volumes. She knew that Sarah would never let anything bad happen to her or Chuck. She also knew why.

Sarah breathed a big sigh of relief. "I'll tell you what I can," she said. "We don't know everything about the organization that is after Chuck, just that they're looking to take over the government, and they're willing to do almost anything to accomplish that. We've been fighting a secret war with them for years."

"But I don't understand," Ellie said. "Why Chuck?"

Cole was the one to answer. "Because your brother has . . . a special ability, one that no other person in the world has. If they capture him, it's very possible that they could win."

Nodding, Sarah added, "That's really all we can tell you. I'm sorry. I know that's not nearly enough for you. All I can ask is that you trust me."

"I do, Sarah," Ellie said. "You know that. But two weeks? What are we going to wear? We don't have any clothes with us."

"That's okay," Sarah said, relieved that Ellie was letting her explanation slide, for the moment anyway. "Ellie, you and I can go shopping inside the mall while Cole and Chuck wait outside for the guys."

"I don't have any money," Ellie protested. "I didn't bring my purse or any credit cards."

"You couldn't use them anyway," Cole told her. "Fulcrum is almost surely monitoring your credit cards and cell phones. If you used either, it would tip them off where we are. I'll go and get some cash out using a secure card that I have. They won't be tracking me. We'll use that cash."

Chuck could feel the situation getting tense again. He knew that there was something he needed to do to defuse it. So . . . "Oh my goodness," he said. "You're going to let Ellie loose in a mall, spending someone else's money? This could get ugly. Don't let Casey find out. You know how he hates wasting the taxpayer's money."

Ellie was trying to play it cool, but she was actually looking forward to this morning. She wasn't even sure which she was more excited about – a free shopping trip or spending the day doing something semi-normal with Sarah. "I'll try and keep it under control," she said with a grin. "After all, we'll have to carry everything."

"Do me a favor," Chuck said with a sigh. "Keep an eye on her. Men are always hitting on her. That sort of drives me crazy."

"Chuck!" Ellie exclaimed as she not-so-playfully slapped Chuck on the arm in mock anger. "That sounds horrible. I'm sure Sarah can look out for herself."

"Yeah," Chuck said as his look turned into a sly grin, "but I was actually talking to Sarah."

Sarah's look of concern suddenly turned completely around, and so did she. She didn't want Chuck to see how hard she was laughing. After all, he was getting entirely too cocky as it was. He probably didn't need any more encouragement, although she knew that she couldn't completely hide it from him. How adorable was he anyway? His stubble from not having shaved this morning looked so cute. In fact she was dying to rub her hand over it. But that would send entirely the wrong message.

_I'll bet he would look incredible with a beard_.

Then with a sigh she answered her own question – _very_.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie watched Sarah out of the corner of her eye as the younger woman thumbed quickly through a rack of men's shirts. They'd already taken care of their own clothing, getting a few outfits for each of them, enough clothes and underwear and socks to last two weeks. Once they gotten to the men's section, Sarah had quickly drifted toward the button-down shirts, a staple of Chuck's wardrobe. It was an unconscious move, Ellie was sure, but it made her smile. And if it meant that she was left shopping for the handsome MI-6 agent, then so be it.

A frown on her face, Ellie picked up a red printed tee from the shirt table. Would a medium fit Cole? A large? Maybe Sarah should be the one shopping for him. She could shop for Devon, she could shop for Chuck, she could even, on occasion, shop for Morgan, but Cole was outside of her realm. She'd only known the guy for a day now, not exactly long enough to be picking out clothing for him.

"What do you think?" she asked, holding up the shirt for Sarah to see. "Will this fit Cole?"

Sarah looked over and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe? Let's hope so," she ended with a small laugh.

"Why is this so hard?" Ellie asked with a chuckle of her own. "We both know Chuck's sizes, so getting clothes for Cole shouldn't be too much harder."

"No, you're absolutely right. So we know that he's a few inches shorter than Chuck."

"And a bit broader in the shoulders."

A frown darkened Sarah's face for a moment before she lifted a hand and said, "Oh, so he's built a lot like Devon?"

At the words, the connection clicked in Ellie's mind. Yes, the MI-6 agent was a lot like Devon, and that was something she could work off. "Yes! Yes, there we go. See? I knew we could do this.'

Ellie grinned at the blush on Sarah's face, wondering if this was what it felt like to have a sister. When she was younger, she used to wish for a baby sister. Chuck was fun, a wonderful brother, but she thought that having another girl around - someone to confide in, someone to share with - would have made things a lot easier, especially after their parents left.

That first night she met Sarah, she knew Chuck had found someone special. She had spent countless family dinners and double dates trying to get his (cover) girlfriend to open up, and she finally understood why the blond woman was so guarded. Now that she knew the truth, Ellie was determined to keep their friendship on solid footing, especially after the progress they made last night. But she was burning with curiosity about Cole.

A mischievous grin on her lips as she regarded the shirt, she said, "Devon usually wears a large, but maybe I should get Cole a medium."

Sarah stopped perusing the shirt rack to look up at Ellie with a raised brow. "Why?"

Unable to hold in her mirth any longer, Ellie balled up the shirt and buried her giggles in it. "Oh, come on, you've seen the guy. If he looks like that with clothes _on_, I can only imagine what his abs must look like."

"Ellie!" Sarah exclaimed, looking scandalized. "Devon's going to be here soon."

"I know, I know," she assured her. "But I can look while I have the chance, can't I?" Sarah shook her head and returned to shopping. Ellie, catching the look on her face, prompted, "What is it, Sarah? Cole . . . you said he was a good guy, right?"

"Mmm-hmm," Sarah responded absently.

"So . . . is there something I should know about him?"

With a sigh, Sarah tossed a few shirts into their cart and turned to the jean table. "Cole's an agent. He isn't like Devon and Chuck. Yes, he's a good guy, and he's good to have around right now, but . . . he isn't the kind of guy to get involved with."

"Relax, Sarah. Who said anything about getting involved? He's handsome; you can't deny that." Ellie grinned. "Just a little harmless flirtation, that's all."

Sarah chuckled. "All right, but I'm warning you that no flirtation with Cole is ever harmless."

Ellie nodded. After her talk with Chuck the night before, she was prepared to trust this woman, not only in matters of espionage but also in matters closer to home. She was about to crack a joke about Cole, thinking it would get Sarah's mind off her stagnant relationship with Chuck and alleviate her own misgivings about Devon and Casey's safety, but the look on her friend's face warned her against any further levity.

"Hey," she murmured, "anything bothering you? Besides the usual, I mean."

"Just the usual," Sarah shrugged half-heartedly, holding up a pair of jeans to distract herself.

"You sure? You know you can talk to me about it, right? Chuck's not around to prise your secrets out of you now."

Sarah gave her a grateful smile. "I never got to apologize for how I acted last night. I never wanted to resort to that, but . . ."

"Let me stop you right there," Ellie told her, knowing exactly what she was referring to. "First of all, Chuck and I had a long talk while you and Cole were figuring out a plan. He explained a lot. Between his stories and the glimpse of Sarah Walker the Spy I got last night, I'm coming to realize that you'll do anything to protect him, even if it means putting me in momentary danger."

A faint blush rose to Sarah's cheeks. "Is there a 'second of all'?"

"Second of all," Ellie smiled, "I may not be a spy, but I'm not stupid either."

"I never sai-"

Ellie held up a hand to stop Sarah's protests. She continued, "As much as you were trying to scare me, I could still see that your finger wasn't on the trigger -"

"That means nothing. A good shot doesn't put her finger on the trigger until she makes the decision to shoot -"

"And that you were aiming somewhere above my right shoulder. So even if you had shot, you would have hit . . . the refrigerator?"

Sarah shook her head slowly, an exasperated smile gracing her lips. "Won't you just let me apologize?" she asked.

Ellie chuckled. "Not until you have something to apologize for."

Sarah accepted the praise quietly before saying, "It's just, I know how much you and Chuck mean to each other. I never want to screw that up."

"I know," Ellie said, "which is exactly why you won't."

x-x-x-x-x

"Okay," Sarah sighed, looking at the piles of clothes in their cart, "I think we're finally ready."

Ellie held up a finger. "Hold on. One more thing?"

And the look on her face was so hopeful that Sarah couldn't refuse, especially not after they'd just begun to make progress. Ever since she met the Bartowskis, she'd felt more than a little intimidated by the elder sibling, intimidated, even disappointed by the fact that they'd never become good friends. After all, her mission was to get close to Chuck, but being so near Ellie made her remember what it was like to be a sister, to be a friend.

"All right," Sarah chuckled as she followed her to another part of the store. "One more thing."

But her grin soon faded as she realized where they were heading. She stopped short, just on the perimeter of the lingerie section, as Ellie wove her way between the racks of nighties and negligees. Suddenly and intensely uncomfortable, she hugged her arms and waited for Ellie to pick something so they could be done with it.

Grabbing a sheer red nightie made of lace that was more well-placed holes than it was actual material, Ellie held it up and turned to face Sarah.

"What do you think?" she asked, a sly grin on her face.

"Yeah, it's great," Sarah nodded.

"Oh, come on, Sarah," Ellie frowned.

Sarah held her hands up. "What? Devon will love it, no doubt."

Laughing, Ellie replaced the red bit and pulled out a black one. "I know exactly what you need. Something like this. You're much more suited to black."

"What?" Sarah asked, momentarily struck dumb by the implication. "What? No. Definitely not, Ellie." She pushed the negligee away.

Ellie paused, studying her friend. "Okay, Sarah, what's the matter?"

Sarah simply shook her head. This was no time to get into an issue like this.

Replacing the negligee on the rack, Ellie turned to face Sarah. "I know this is going to be tough, but I've already come to terms with that. I'm ready to spend however long it takes hiding out and running from danger, because I trust you, Sarah. I trust you to take care of my brother and me." A soft smile tugged at her lips as she continued, "But don't you think you and Chuck deserve a little break from this all? Come on, this could be good for you two."

"You don't understand, Ellie," Sarah began.

"I know, I know," Ellie interrupted, "it's complicated. But can't you un-complicate it, just for one night?"

Biting at her bottom lip, Sarah shook her head. "This isn't the way to do it."

Ellie walked over, put a hand to her back. "Then explain it to me, because I'm pretty confused."

Sarah, swallowing thickly, avoided her gaze. After a long moment, she said, "I'm a spy, Ellie. Sex for us is just a tool. When I was first assigned to protect your brother, I was told to use any means necessary to gain his trust."

"'Any means'?" Ellie repeated. "You mean, sex?"

Sarah nodded. "I could have done this," she said, waving a hand toward the lingerie. "I could have bought something like this and slept with him. He would have done anything I asked."

"But you didn't."

"No, even after the first night, I knew I could never resort to that."

"Why not?" Ellie asked, genuinely interested. If that was what spies did, why had Sarah chosen not to? As the words left her mouth, she realized how callous they were. A life like Sarah's . . . how unutterably empty was a life such as hers? She couldn't even fathom using affection, sex, in order to control a man.

Sighing, Sarah replied, "Because Chuck wasn't just another mark, another asset. That would have destroyed him."

Ellie wanted to squeal in delight at the further proof of how far gone Sarah was. Instead, aware of the situation's seriousness, she slid her arm around her, pulled her in a bit, and said, "I think I understand. When it finally happens, you want it to be you and Chuck, not Agent Walker and her asset."

Sarah didn't respond, but the thoughtful frown on her face was enough of a reply for Ellie.

"Okay," Ellie breathed, "so no negligee for you." Venturing a teasing tone, she added, "Maybe we should get some grandma PJs for you instead."

She was rewarded with a smile from Sarah, and they left the store with one negligee and one set of flannel pajamas.

x-x-x-x-x

While the girls were shopping, Chuck and Cole went to a drug store to buy some toiletries for their trip. Though he had no idea where they were going, Chuck had a general idea of what to buy. He knew Ellie liked lavender shampoo especially, and he stuck a bottle in the cart in the hopes that something familiar, even something as small and insignificant as the shampoo she usually uses, would help her cope with the current situation.

Cole strolled over, a package of razors in his right hand and a can of shaving cream in his left, just as Chuck tossed the shampoo in and reached out for similarly-scented conditioner. Cole dumped his findings into the cart and, eyes narrowed, picked up the shampoo.

"What is this?" he demanded curtly.

Chuck froze, not quite certain what was going on, what he'd done to cause the crease to appear in his friend's brow. "Uh . . . it's shampoo?"

"No. We're not getting it. Put it back," Cole ordered as he shoved the bottle rather roughly into Chuck's stomach.

Cole strode off around the corner and wandered into another aisle, cursing himself silently for losing his cool so thoroughly. He stopped, took a moment to lean his head back against the shelf and force deep breaths in and out of his lungs.

_Lavender_.

How well he remembered that most-pleasant aroma. It was in his lungs constantly, filling and intoxicating him; he could not rid himself of it. But he could not afford to lose his head, not now, not when Chuck's life was at stake. Not when his sister was in danger as well.

At that thought, Cole shook his head to clear his mind. Distractions were deadly, and distractions like a friend's sister were ten times so.

By the time he rejoined Chuck, he'd already gotten the basics - toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brushes, floss, the easy stuff, which meant that they were ready to move on to . . . the feminine department.

"Don't look at me," Cole said, still a bit gruffly, in response to Chuck's unasked question, hands up and a smirk tugging at his lips. "You're the one with a sister and a girlfriend."

"I have no idea," Chuck frowned, ignoring the British agent's shifting moods. "Naturally, they both wear makeup. I just don't have a clue what kind."

They jointly decided that the girls would have to make a quick run later and pick up the remaining necessities for themselves. After putting their purchases in the trunk, they drove back to the mall parking lot where they agreed to meet and sat in the car as they waited for the girls to finish shopping.

Every once in a while, Cole took a turn around the parking lot to scout the perimeter. After he returned from the third trip, Chuck asked, with obvious concern, "Are you expecting any trouble?"

"Not really," Cole shrugged. "After all, no one knows that we're here. It's just force of habit. We can never be too careful, especially with you around. You're very valuable, mate."

"Now see," Chuck said, "that's the difference between you and me – well, one of many, many differences anyway. You're used to being in danger. I . . . well, I'll never get used to that. I get freaked out . . . and make stupid decisions. Sarah yells at me about it all the time."

Cole turned his attention away from scouting out the parking lot – just for a moment, and turned to look at Chuck, lifting his aviators off his eyes. "You're being a bit hard on yourself, don't you think?" he said. "Agents train for years. You've been thrown into the fray without so much as a helping hand. For what it's worth, you're doing a lot better than most trained agents." He dropped his sunglasses back across his eyes and returned to looking out the window. "Though you'd do much better if you only carried a gun."

Chuck couldn't keep the surprised look from his face. Not only was he surprised, but also pleased. How many times did he have to scrabble for praise from Sarah and Casey? It was nice to be appreciated for his efforts, even after knowing Cole for only a little while. "Thanks," was all he said.

They descended into silence, during which Chuck longed to turn on the radio, until Cole finally said, "You're wrong, you know?"

Chuck smiled. "Of course I know I'm wrong. That's pretty much a given, isn't it? What about this time?"

Cole grinned at the self-deprecating humor. It really was quite charming, in its own way. "Sarah didn't yell at you," he told him. "That was pure Agent Walker. She yells because she's scared."

"Sarah, scared," Chuck scoffed. "Sarah's not afraid of anything. I thought agents aren't supposed to be scared."

"We're not," Cole said bluntly. "But the fact is that she does get scared, and it's always about you. Look, you're in love with her, and I know we've already established that I'm the last man on earth to give advice about love. But I do know what your and Sarah's problem is."

"What is it?" Chuck asked, trying and failing to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

"She's in love with you, too. And she's fighting it because she's scared of it and because she wants more than anything to keep you safe. That's what's making her - how did you describe it? - freak out."

"But why is she scared?" Chuck asked softly. "She shouldn't be. I love her too."

"You can't say that," Cole instructed firmly. "Agent Walker's had it pounded into her head from day one. The number one rule of spying is to never fall in love. Be an island. You can't get close to anyone, because they have this rather nasty habit of dying on you, or just plain leaving you." A grim expression flickered over his face. "That's what you're battling with her. That's what she's fighting with herself about. Can she be in love with you and still protect you? Even worse, what happens if she _does_ allow herself to love you, and you go and do something heroically idiotic, like get yourself killed? That's the issue you're going to have to deal with."

Chuck paused for a long moment, feeling simultaneously chastised and relieved. Chastised because he should have realized all this, should have figured out that his and Sarah's worlds don't intersect enough for her to understand what he's offering. The normalcy of his life was entirely confusing to her. And relieved because what Cole said made complete sense, and explained a lot of what confused him about Sarah in turn.

"Okay," he finally said. "But how do I do that? How do I get her to realize that being a spy and being with me aren't necessarily mutually exclusive futures?"

Cole smiled and returned his attention to the mall entrance. "That's the rub," he said, "isn't it?"

Chuck, grinning, shook his head. "Thanks a lot," he said. "Just when the questions get hard, you bail on me."

"Hey," Cole said with a chuckle, holding up his palms in mock defense, "I told you that you were on your own, didn't I? Anyways, it looks like our lovelies have finally completed their assignment."

When Chuck looked towards the mall, he saw Sarah and Ellie walking towards the car and laughing, bags of purchases clutched in their hands. But his attention was unexplainably drawn to a group of men standing just outside the entrance. As it always did, the flash hit suddenly, without warning.

"Cole," he was finally able to choke out, "there's a group of Fulcrum agents standing right behind Sarah and Ellie."

Cole had already gotten out of the car to go help the girls with their bags. He sprang into action immediately. "Stay in the car," he said as he closed the door and walked swiftly towards the men.

x-x-x-x-x


	4. Not the Only One

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**Not the Only One**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck's attention was riveted to the group of five Fulcrum agents standing in a group just outside the mall entrance. This couldn't possibly be coincidence. They must have known they'd come here. He tensed up when Sarah and Ellie walked past the group laughing and talking, relaxing a little when the agents let them walk by. The men turned as one to check out the sexy sight of the women walking away from them, and you didn't have to be much of a lip reader to figure out the crude comments they were making to each other. But beyond that, they didn't seem to recognize them as mission objectives. They certainly made no attempt to follow them.

Why were there only five though? That didn't make much sense. Surely Fulcrum would send more than five agents if they thought that the Intersect was in the vicinity. In any event, Cole was being wary. Chuck could see him off to his left making his way toward the group. Keeping his head low, he used the cars in the lot and the fact that their attention was currently on other matters to cover his advance. Gun in head, he was ready to shoot at the first sign of aggression.

Chuck quickly surveyed the surroundings. It seemed to be a pretty typical Tuesday morning. There were a fair number of shoppers milling around, entering and exiting the mall, but one would be hard pressed to call it busy. Then he spotted them, down by Sears, another group of five men standing there. They were a little to far away to get a close enough look at to flash, but you really didn't need an Intersect to tell that it was another group of Fulcrum Agents. It was obvious in their attire – full suits in a mall parking lot – and the way they loitered outside the entrance. Chuck looked around the lot, locating another group of five men just coming from the bank Cole had visited this morning to get their current supply of cash.

Five agents would have been nothing to worry about, especially with Sarah and Cole around. But now there were at least fifteen milling around by his last count, split into teams and searching for him. There were undoubtedly other teams inside the mall proper, searching in the stores, and that meant that Cole was in serious trouble. With surprise on his side, he might have a chance against the first five, but there was no way for him to take on the numbers that would quickly join the fight.

Chuck knew that he had to let Cole know about the force that was currently surrounding him. Just like last night, their only real chance was to make a run for it.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey was driving towards the mall. They were early, but he had to admit that he was looking forward to meeting up with the team. Not for any lady feeling reason, of course. It was just that, quite frankly, he was looking forward to being rid of his new roommate.

Devon wasn't a bad guy, for a frat boy. It's just that he was the oil to Casey's vinegar. He was a talker. Casey was beginning to wonder if he ever shut up. He was actually worse than Bartowski, and that wasn't something Casey ever thought he'd encounter. All he did was ask questions, constantly. Questions that Casey either didn't want to answer – like what Casey thought about life in general – or questions that he couldn't answer even if he wanted to – like how Ellie was.

Besides that, he was missing all the fun. Watching Bartowski hobble around on his broken foot while watching Walker play rock star groupie with the new guy? Now that was fun on many levels. It wasn't that he disliked Bartowski. In fact, it was the opposite. He sort of grew on you. There was even a small yet growing part of him that secretly rooted for the nerd and Walker to hook up.

Not that Walker would ever let it happen. It was especially never going to happen as long as Cole Barker was in the vicinity. He was much too much of a draw for a spy like Sarah Walker, too much the type she was supposed to go for. Rugged, sexy, hunky, super spy versus lovable nerd? No contest. And that was simply too fat of a hanging curve ball for Casey to let go by without taking a hack.

Yup, it was time to turn this whiner over to his gorgeous fiancé – and poke some fun at the spy wannabe.

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah reached the car with Ellie, she was surprised that it was empty – surprised and more than a little annoyed. She wasn't worried. Chuck was in good hands with Cole, who would make sure he was safe. But damn it, they had agreed to meet here. Fortunately, the keys were still in the ignition, so she popped the trunk and they both dumped their packages. Carrying around two weeks of outfits for four people was a lot, and it felt good to finally be rid of the weight. She was just about to get into the back seat and wait when she heard the barrage of gunshots.

Sarah immediately snapped into Agent Walker mode. "Ellie," she barked, "get in the back seat and put your head down. Don't move until I tell you."

Ellie's eyes were wide with fear, but she nodded and quickly followed Sarah's instructions. Sarah wanted to sigh with relief. At least one Bartowski could follow simple directions.

x-x-x-x-x

Cole knew full well that he had to do something. It was certainly no coincidence that Fulcrum was here. What surprised him was that the agents let the girls walk right by without doing anything. That meant they weren't looking for the girls, which in turn meant they all could perhaps get in the car and escape undetected. That, however, would leave Agent Casey and his new friend as sitting ducks. After all, why else would Fulcrum be here? Casey must have tipped them off somehow that they were meeting at this location. But that was pretty sloppy, and Sarah would vouch that it wasn't something he would do.

Cole frowned. He needed to create enough commotion to warn Casey not to approach, that there were enemies waiting. Crouching behind a blue Camry, he slammed a fresh clip into his gun. He took aim at the closest agent to him and gently squeezed the trigger twice. Two of the men quickly fell in a heap.

Cole was looking for commotion, and that's exactly what he got. As soon as his first shot rang out, all hell began to break loose. Civilians went running in all directions, and the remaining Fulcrum agents, who hurriedly realized that they were being attacked, assumed as much of a defensive posture as they could. One of them was even able to return fire in Cole's general direction. That made them a much more difficult target, so Cole had to empty his clip before he was finally able to kill the other three.

Unfortunately, his concentration was focused on those first five. He didn't notice the second group arriving from the rear, and he was easily tackled by the first of that group. He was able to shake off the first attack, rendering the agent immobile with a blow to his throat. But the other four were right behind him. They clearly wanted to capture Cole alive, but that didn't mean they were gentle. Far from it, Cole took several vicious blows, a few to the stomach, a couple to the face, even a slash to the arm with a knife.

Chuck was running as fast as his cast would allow. When he finally got to the scene all he could see was the mass of bodies. He knew that Cole was in there someplace, and that he was in serious trouble. Not knowing what else to do, he launched himself at the pile. Chuck was certainly no match physically for any of the trained Fulcrum agents, much less four of them. But since they weren't expecting anything of the sort, two of them went flying to the ground with Chuck on top of them.

That allowed Cole to at least have a chance with the two remaining men. He swiftly disabled one with a lethal head butt. Cole wasn't quite as quick with the other agent. He was uncommonly large and strong, which meant he was physically able to stay with Cole for a short time. They wrestled on the ground for a while.

Meanwhile, Chuck wasn't doing well at all. Whatever advantage surprise had given him was long gone. He had already taken several punches and was currently lying on the ground in agony, thanks to a well-placed kick to his midsection. Finally the two men dragged Chuck to his feet. Through his daze, Chuck could plainly see another group of five agents rapidly approaching. He grimaced, both from the pain and from what this situation was rapidly becoming. It was looking pretty grim.

Suddenly, the man on his left side went down in a heap, a knife plainly protruding from his throat. Before he could even turn his head, all he could see was a flash of blonde hair as the man on his right went down like the proverbial ton of bricks, courtesy of a Sarah kick to the side of his head.

Sarah had driven the car to the spot where Cole and Chuck were fighting, and it was sitting there running, two doors thrown open.

"Get in the damn car!" she screamed at Chuck as she went to help Cole.

Chuck ran to the car and more or less threw himself into the passenger seat. As it turned out, Cole didn't need any help. He'd just killed the last man with a punch to his throat. He staggered to the car and got in the back seat next to Ellie, who looked shaken but still had her wits about her.

Truth be told, she hadn't been that scared until this point. She felt safe with these three, especially after seeing how Sarah would fight to protect her and her brother, but the bad guys hadn't gotten this close until now. Her brain felt frozen, paralyzed by the idea of the danger her brother's been getting into all this time. How many times had he been shot at? How many times had Sarah shot other men on his behalf? There was so much to wrap her head around. She'd thought everything had made sense when Chuck had explained it to her last night, but it was only beginning to sink in at this moment.

Thankfully, Cole's appearance in the car brought her back to her senses. The sight of injuries brought out the doctor in her, and medical thought led to logical thought, which led to calm thought. She began a quick examination of Cole's wounds as Sarah ran around to the driver's seat, threw the car in drive, and sped off before they could even close the doors all the way.

Sarah had the car practically on two wheels getting out of the area, the tires squawking loudly as she deftly maneuvered out of the parking lot. Once she was free of the immediate vicinity, she took an obscure path through a residential neighborhood to make sure that no one could identify the direction they were escaping. It wasn't until she was safely on the freeway that she slowed down to anything approaching a normal speed. There was thankfully no sign that they were being pursued. They had escaped . . . barely, this time. But they had clearly escaped.

Again.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey knew the instant that the mall was in sight that something serious had just gone down there. There were enough Police, Fire, and Paramedic flashing lights to rival the Las Vegas Strip. He warily parked the car as close to the scene as he could get.

He considered for a moment what to do with Devon. A row of body bags lay on the asphalt in plain view. It'd be better if he would just wait in the car, especially if there were any friendly bodies lying there. Then again, he knew his success with getting this crew to actually stay in the car . . . so he indicated that Devon should come with him.

When they got to the yellow tape, they were stopped by a policeman in plain clothes. "Excuse me," he said, "this is a crime scene. You can't come in here."

Casey just held up his ID. "John Casey, NSA" he said. "This is potentially a national security situation. Who's in charge?"

"Actually," the man said, "I am, for the time being anyway. My name is Detective Brown, Dan Brown."

"What's the situation?" Casey asked as he shook the detective's offered hand.

"We're not really sure," Brown replied. "We have nine bodies, five gunshots, one knife, and three hand-to-hand victims. We're not sure what the root cause of the incident is. It doesn't look gang related. All of the victims are dressed in business suits. Perhaps organized crime?"

That was the first time that Casey actually took a breath. None of the team would be wearing a business suit, so they must have all escaped. "Any witness description of the perpetrators?" he asked.

"We haven't had a chance to interview everybody yet," Brown said. "It looks like there were four people in a black Crown Vic who escaped the scene. The driver might have been a woman with long blonde hair. There might have been another dark haired woman in the back seat. We don't have even a partial plate. I'm getting ready to issue an A.P.B."

"Belay that," Casey said. "They're undercover federal officers. We can't draw any public attention to them. In fact, it would be very helpful if you could issue a cover statement that led the public away from that description. Was anything interesting found on the bodies?"

"Yes, sir," Brown said. "I'll see to the cover story personally. Not much on the bodies. Just this knife that was the cause of one death . . . and this."

Casey smiled as he saw Brown hold up a plastic bag with one of Sarah's knives. But as he looked at the paper that Brown handed him the smile faded . . . quickly. "I need a favor," he said quickly as he lowered his voice. "You need to cancel this card. And keep this information to yourself. This is vital to national security."

"Yes, sir," Brown said as he shook Casey's offered hand. "I'll take of it. Good luck."

"Thanks for your assistance," Casey said as he led Devon away. "We'll need all of the luck we can get."

Devon was watching the conversation with interest. To his credit, he held his tongue while Casey was talking to the detective. But as soon as they walked away, that changed. "John," he said, "what's going on?"

Casey grunted. This mission had just gotten way more complicated. It would be best if Devon would stop asking so many damn questions. That wasn't very realistic, though, was it? And actually, there was a glimmer of good news here.

"That paper was a copy of a credit card transaction that Cole made this morning," he said as he continued walking. "They're not after Chuck. Not really."

"They're not?" Devon asked. "That's good. So this is over?"

"No," Casey said, "they're not after Chuck _yet_ anyway. They're after Cole." He let out a deep sigh. "And I'm afraid that this just started."

x-x-x-x-x

The tension in the car was palpable. Sarah was plainly livid, her face ashen with anger. She drove silently for quite a few miles out of town before she was finally convinced that they had truly escaped. She pulled off the freeway at a small town on the outskirts of the desert to find a little motel – perhaps not quite as seedy in appearance as last night, but certainly no fancier – and pulled into the parking lot.

Sarah turned her white, angry face towards Chuck with fire in her eyes. "Damn it, Chuck," she finally said harshly. "Can I trust you to actually stay in the damn car for ten minutes while Ellie and I go in and get rooms?"

Knowing Sarah was pissed, Chuck held his tongue. He just nodded sadly.

"Come on, Ellie," Sarah said as she flung open the car door. "Let's go."

"Cole's hurt," Ellie protested. "I should really take a look at him."

Sarah sighed. "I know. You can look at him once we get inside the room."

As soon as the girls left, Cole leaned up to give Chuck a light punch in the shoulder. "Thanks, mate," he said. "You saved my life out there today."

"It seems only fair," Chuck replied morosely, "after all the times you've saved mine. Sarah's really pissed this time though."

"Wrong and wrong," Cole said with a grin, leaning back in the seat. "Didn't we already cover this in the parking lot? It's Agent Walker who was just yelling at you, not Sarah. And she's not pissed. She's scared."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah stormed into the lobby, fuming silently for a moment before rounding angrily on Ellie. "This is exactly what I've been trying to tell you. This is precisely why Chuck and I can't be together," she said. "He constantly puts himself in danger trying to save me. But that's not his job, Ellie. That's mine." She took a deep breath before adding quietly, "He's going to get himself killed."

Ellie was still shaken from the recent scare in the parking lot, but she didn't back down, and she quickly realized that Sarah was more in need of some composure. Forcing a smile, she said, "I do see. But in all fairness, he was trying to save Cole today, not you. Are you saying that he's in love with Cole too? Besides, aren't you proud of him? Even a little?" She paused to consider for a moment. "I am. I never imagined my little brother, who would run around pretending to be Superman, could be so brave."

Sarah was surprised at how well Ellie was taking this. The elder Bartowski should be the one freaking out, not her. That's the main reason she'd brought her into the lobby. Taking a deep breath to calm down, she admitted, "I _am_ proud of him. Of course I am. But I can't lose him. Do you want to lose him? Do you realize how close we came to that today?"

"But you made sure that didn't happen," Ellie told her. "I'm even more proud of you. I actually feel better now that I've seen you in action. Chuck said that you were badass, but, Sarah, I didn't expect anything like that. You were unbelievable this morning. So was Cole. He fought off three men with his bare hands. I've never seen anything like that . . . ever. It was like watching a movie." She smiled, reaching out an arm to put around Sarah. "Chuck has been in good hands. So am I. So thank you."

Sarah let out a huge sigh. "I can't lose him," she repeated. "I can't."

Ellie rubbed Sarah's back. "I know," she whispered. "Trust me, sweetie. I can't lose him either. But I'm still proud of him."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Sarah unlocked the door, Cole and Chuck each went directly to a bed and sat down.

"Come on, Cole," Ellie said. "Let's go to the other room. I want to take a look at that cut on your arm. It looks like it may need some stitches. Besides, we don't want to risk an infection."

Cole, already settled on the bed, looked up. "Oh, I think it'll be okay," he said. "Just a scratch. Besides, I don't really like needles."

"Oh," Ellie said mockingly, "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize. I went to UCLA. Where did you go to medical school, Doctor Barker?"

"Okay," Cole said with a slight grin as he stood up. "Point well taken, Doctor Bartowski. I want to warn you though, I really wasn't kidding about the needles."

"After watching that fight, I thought you were supposed to be the tough guy," Ellie grinned, holding the door open for him. "Don't tell me that after all that, you're afraid of little old me. I'll tell you what, if I do have to use any needles, I'll give you a stick to bite on."

As soon as they left the room, Sarah stood for a moment just taking deep breaths, the repetition calming her down. Chuck, wary of making her any angrier than she already was, wouldn't even meet her eye. Running a hand through her hair, she went to the bed, sat down next to him, and allowed herself to relax against his side.

"Chuck," she said softly, "come on. I'm sorry that I got so mad at you. But you're the one they're after. Can't you see that? You could have been killed today."

Chuck thought seriously about putting his arm around her, but he knew something like that would only make her withdraw. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I understand why you get so mad. It's your job to protect me, and I'm not making it very easy, am I?"

Sarah sat there for a long moment. She was simply too tired to pretend anymore, and at least there wasn't currently a camera pointed at them.

"It's not about the job any more," she finally said as she rested her head against Chuck's shoulder. "It hasn't been for a while now. You know that, right?"

She sighed softly. He was right. He wasn't making this very easy. Every time she turned around, every time they went out on a mission, he'd find a way to do some foolish thing like standing in front of a bomb or jumping off a building, all in the name of her. It was exhausting trying to keep him safe when he was trying to be the hero.

"Chuck," she began quietly, "I'm proud of you. I have been since you defused a bomb with a computer virus. You're a hero, Chuck, for everything you've done since this hand's been dealt to you, for saving Cole's life today. But if I told you that, it'd only encourage you to keep doing the foolish, foolish things you do. So what else can I do except be furious with you? It seems like the only way to get through to you."

Frowning, she touched his arm and asked, "Do you even know what would happen to me if something bad happened to you? I'm _sorry_ that this thing with us is so ridiculously hard. I really am. It just . . . Chuck, it just is."

Chuck sat for a moment in stunned silence. This was the most Sarah had ever opened up to him. Her praise buoyed him, but he also hated that he caused her so much worry. That was their relationship though, wasn't it? They tried so hard to take care of each other that all they really ended up doing was driving the other insane with worry.

"I know," he murmured., feeling bold enough to link their hands together. She made no objection, and he continued, "But isn't that the real problem? That's what we need to fix. Then everything else would work out. I'm really not sure what it's going to take, but if there was anything that I could do, you know that I'd do it, right? All you have to do is let me know."

Sarah looked at him for a long moment. "Are you sure about that?"

"What?" Chuck asked, brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she sighed, "now that there aren't any cameras pointed at us, you've got to explain something to me. You keep saying that you want me, but didn't you just tell me six weeks ago that I'd never be normal enough for you? Nothing's changed, Chuck. Isn't that still true?" She shook her head. "So which is it? Are you sure you're not still pining for something that just isn't possible?"

A faint blush rose to his cheeks as he dropped his head. "Uh, yeah, about that," he stammered.

"Chuck," Sarah muttered in a low voice, knowing a revelation was coming, and probably one that she wasn't going to like.

"Actually, I've got kind of a confession to make," he began. "I told you that because Bryce had been drilling it into my head that you having feelings for me was going to get you hurt. I didn't want that. So I sort of . . . lied to you. I'm sorry. I was just trying to do the right thing. I never want to see you get hurt. Just like you don't want to see me get hurt."

Sarah picked her head up off his shoulder to look at him. "Bryce told you that?" she questioned quickly. After his affirmative nod, she tightened her jaw in anger. _That son of a . . ._ If she hadn't before, she definitely owed her ex-partner one serious ass-kicking right now. But Chuck's confession did explain a lot of her confusion surrounding Bryce's return.

"It was when you were in the hospital." He quirked a small smile. "I think that maybe I'm not the only one who's jealous in this situation."

"Bryce and I are over," Sarah said firmly. "I tried to tell you that in the hospital. Whatever personal thing we had once is history. Please tell me that you believe that."

Chuck just nodded again, but his smile grew. "I'm pretty much limited to being ridiculously childishly jealous over only one man at any one point in time," he told her playfully. "So, thank you, Cole."

Sarah's lips curved into her own slight smile. "That's good," she said. "Now that you're over being jealous of Cole, are there any other promising candidates on the horizon? And for the record, what changed your mind? You obviously don't care if I get hurt anymore. That doesn't sound very noble."

The tension in the room broke as Chuck laughed. "Now you're just making it sound bad," he said. "No, I told you last night that I'm going to work on being jealous. Besides, I decided that Bryce was being a little hypocritical. He didn't seem that concerned that your having feelings for him was endangering you, just your having feelings for me." He gave a little shrug. "And even if he was genuinely trying to do the right thing, you can't stop feelings. Pretending they're not there doesn't help. We've tried that."

Sarah leaned back into him, giving him the courage to continue, "So I want to make it official. I don't care how normal you were, are, or ever will be. There's no way you could ever be called normal, in any respect, because you're not. You're . . . incredible. And the fact remains that I'm crazy about you, have been since the day you stepped into my life."

Sarah was glad she was resting her head against his shoulder again so he couldn't see the look on her face. It was an incredibly sweet speech. She knew full well that he didn't use the 'L' word to avoid putting any pressure on her, but that was clearly what he just said. Even though Sarah's heart fluttered for a long moment, she still didn't have an answer. Even without any cameras, what could she possibly say to him that would make this better? That she was crazy about him too? That she loved him? That she had feelings for him that she never thought were possible? That she even sometimes daydreamed about what their children might look like?

Then what? No matter what she said, their problems were not going away. So she said what she could say, the same thing that she always said – nothing.

At least the mood had changed. There was no sense in staying mad. Chuck was Chuck, and she had gotten every concession from him today that she was going to get. He knew that she worried about him. Hopefully, that would make a difference next time.

He was probably even right. She had feelings whether she admitted them to him out loud or not. However those feelings impacted her job performance, it had already happened. It was getting entirely too frustrating to not be able to tell him, not to mention she wasn't fooling anyone anyway. He deserved to know. Ellie'd been right last night. Her silence was getting downright cruel. She was just finding it hard to reconcile her feelings for him with keeping him safe.

Besides that, imagine the look on his face if she could tell him. It would be so wonderful to see, to be able to make him feel as good as he was making her. She was so lost in her mini-daydream that she didn't realize Ellie and Cole were back until they were already in the room. When it came to her, she realized how intimately she was snuggled with Chuck – and what that probably looked like to Ellie. She sure didn't want to have to deal with any more gloating. So she disentangled herself from Chuck and stood up guiltily.

"That didn't take long," Chuck said.

"I couldn't do much," Ellie told them. "That cut is going to take about ten stitches. I don't have any supplies for that." She crossed her arms. "If you guys are going to be getting in trouble like this, I'm going to need some supplies."

Sarah finally shook herself from the embarrassment. "We can't go to the hospital," she said. "We can't go anyplace Fulcrum knows about. They'll be there waiting for us."

Ellie nodded. "I know. Cole already lectured me all about that. After I finally got him to take off his shirt and let me examine him anyway."

"I _tried_ to lecture her," Cole corrected with a laugh. "It was pretty hard to get a word in edgewise."

"Hey," Ellie responded in mock horror, hands on her hips, "it's called having a bedside manner." Then she turned back to Sarah. "I have a friend who has a clinic about ten miles from here. Cole can go with me. She'll give me a clean place to stitch him up and some supplies. It's a pretty good idea to be prepared anyway, what with all the guns and knives being deployed."

Ellie noticed Sarah's discomfort, written plainly on her face, so she walked over to her. "Don't worry," she said with a positively evil grin. "We'll be gone at least an hour." Then she lowered her voice so that only Sarah could hear. "Damn, girl, why are you being so stubborn? Forget the stupid negligee. Just go jump on him while we're gone and get this over with. We both know that you want to. My professional opinion is that it would be therapeutic for both of you. As a matter of fact, if you think it will help with your superiors, I'll write you a prescription."

_For heartache, one dose of Chuck Bartowski. Apply topically just before bedtime. Repeat dosage daily as needed_.

Sarah could feel the blush traveling up her neck. She looked at her new best friend's face, lit up like a Christmas tree. The sparkle in her eyes said that she was clearly enjoying her discomfort over the Chuck situation entirely too much. Sarah could also clearly tell that she was right. Her defenses were rapidly weakening. And yes, she absolutely did want to, much more than simply jump on him. Even so, Ellie's cockiness was on the edge of becoming annoying. It obviously ran in the family. There must be some way to gently take her down a peg.

But how? Maybe Cole and Ellie. That was fertile territory. Their chemistry was blatant, and Ellie had already admitted that she thought he was a hunk. If Sarah hadn't known better, she would have thought that Ellie was actually flirting with him. Hopefully Cole would understand the situation. She made a mental note to talk to him about it later. _That's all we need_.

Speaking softly so that only Ellie could hear, she said, "Speaking of prescriptions, what are you writing for Cole? I thought you said doctors weren't supposed to get involved with their patients, especially engaged doctors. At the rate you two are going, pretty soon your treatment options are going to be reduced to kiss-it-and-make-it-better. You do realize that 'bedside manner' is only an expression?"

Sarah made sure to flash a grin to let Ellie know that she was teasing – mostly anyway. And Ellie grinned back, finally. But the red that was quickly rising up her neck told Sarah that she had clearly just struck gold.

_That's good to know_, Sarah chuckled to herself. _It's nice to have a button of my own to push. After all, two can play that game._

x-x-x-x-x


	5. The Good Dream

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Good Dream**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck looked at the interaction between Sarah and Ellie with interest. Even though he couldn't hear what they were saying, it was obvious that they were good naturedly poking fun at each other. It was also just as obvious, from the blushes on their faces, that each had landed a shot or two.

It really made Chuck's day that Sarah and Ellie were getting closer. He had always hoped that would happen. For one thing, Sarah needed a girlfriend. The only people she was ever around were men. Even if he and Sarah could make the transition to a real couple, there were going to be some issues that she would never feel comfortable talking to him about. After all, that's exactly what Morgan was to him. Certainly Sarah deserved it as well. Besides that, he had a purely selfish motive. Ellie was the one person in the world who wanted him and Sarah to be together as much as he did. If they could get close, Ellie would make a great ally.

As soon as Ellie and Cole left, Sarah came back and sat next to Chuck. "What do you want to do?" she asked.

Chuck just yawned.

"Wow," Sarah said with a smile, "that was quite a statement. Am I that boring?"

"I'm so sorry," Chuck said as the blush traveled up his neck. "It's not that. It's just that I haven't been sleeping that well lately . . . and with all of the excitement today . . ."

"I'm just teasing you," Sarah said. "A nap is actually probably a pretty good idea."

Chuck put his head on the pillow, surprised when Sarah plopped down next to him.

"What did you expect me to do?" she chuckled, eyebrows lifting bemusedly at his look. "Sit and watch you sleep? I could use a nap too, you know."

"Umm," Chuck stammered, "it's not that. I'm just surprised that . . . uh, well . . . you didn't pick the other bed."

"Really?" Sarah asked while trying to suppress a laugh. "Come on. We've slept in the same bed several times. Aren't you used to it by now? Besides, that's Cole's bed. I know you're working on the whole jealousy thing, but I figured you'd want me to stay out of Cole's bed, out of principle if nothing else. Am I wrong about that?"

Chuck shook his head with a small smile. "Please just forget I mentioned it. When you're right, you're certainly right."

That got them both laughing. Sarah had to admit it felt great to be lying there, facing him, _laughing_. When was the last time she'd laughed like this? With him? Certainly they hadn't had such a genuine moment in a long while, not since they'd stood there in the Buy More holding hands and listening to Jeffster butcher "Africa." Watching him, she let out a small sigh. Why had things gotten so hard? She hadn't realized how much she had really missed this, how much she had missed these moments of being able to escape, when she could forget about all the tension in her life and pretend to herself that she was just a normal girl . . . Chuck's girl.

Moments like that, though, end all too soon. Before she knew it, they'd stopped laughing and were staring into each other's eyes. Now it was official – Sarah Walker had never wanted anything so badly in her whole life as she wanted to kiss Chuck right now, ever. She was very close to getting her wish as their lips were close and inching closer by the second.

As her gaze flickered from his eyes down to his lips and back, she could feel the internal battle begin to rage again. She wanted this, undoubtedly, but she knew that if she allowed their lips to touch it would be only the beginning. Once they started kissing, in bed, there would be no stopping, not until they were smoking the metaphorical cigarette. This needed to stop now. She _should_ roll over, _should_ put an end to this, because sex would change everything beyond repair. There would be no way in the world to keep him professional after that. No possible way. But his breath on her cheek took her own breath away, and she had to call on every fiber of willpower she had left to take a deep breath and roll away from him.

"Have a nice nap."

Sarah waited until Chuck's even breathing told her that he was sleeping. Then she rolled to face him and rested her chin on her fist with her elbow on the bed to watch him sleep. He just looked so adorable lying there snoring softly. She knew full well that if she started kissing him like she wanted to, she wouldn't stop until he woke up. Then they would be right back to where they were ten minutes ago. So she touched her lips to his very lightly and snuggled up against him, her face buried in the nook between his shoulder and neck. She knew it was wrong, stupid, even reckless, but she also knew that she couldn't help it. If she couldn't have more, she'd settle for gently nuzzling his neck. Even the scratchy stubble on his chin that she'd wanted to rub so badly earlier felt wonderful.

All at once, the possibility of this becoming real overwhelmed her. It already felt so natural, so right, she could barely stand to think about how happy they could be if this were real. Taking a deep breath, she fought back the emotions threatening to bubble to the surface. She could already feel herself getting drowsy instead.

"I love you, Chuck," she whispered.

_Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you that when you're awake_.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was just getting used to driving such a big car. The Crown Vic handled much differently than her Toyota. Though the environmentalist in her bristled at driving such a gas guzzler, she finally had to admit, once you got used to it, it was a very comfortable drive.

She glanced over at her passenger. Passenger? Patient? New friend? Naturally, he had offered to drive. What macho guy wouldn't? But Ellie had insisted. He was injured after all. She had seen with her own eyes the intense fight he was just in. There was a clear bruise forming, right in the middle of his amazing abs, not to mention the gash on his arm that she was going to have to stitch up. What kind of self-respecting doctor would let an injured patient drive in this situation?

Ellie instinctively knew that she needed to be a little careful, even before Sarah's warning about Cole. For one thing, it was a given that doctors were not supposed to notice how sexy their patients looked, especially with their shirt off. The very fact that she did notice was enough to have her alarms ringing, a fact which was completely reinforced when they got to the clinic.

Clara was a good friend of hers. They had been part of the same study group in Medical School. She even knew Devon fairly well. Why would she assume that Ellie was there with another man in any other capacity except patient? Was she sending that obvious of a vibe? Even Clara couldn't take her eyes off of Cole. Ellie almost had to laugh. Two grown-up, well-adjusted, intelligent doctors were _fawning_ over a man. It was on the edge of being ridiculous.

Ellie certainly wasn't jealous. Of course not. A little embarrassed maybe, especially that neither she nor Clara could keep their cool around him. Just what was it about this mysterious man that had her motor running so close to the red line? Macho guys usually turned her off. Just look at Devon. He certainly looked the part of a macho man, but he was a big softie on the inside. So why was she clearly so attracted to this guy?

It certainly wasn't just his amazing body. She was engaged to one of the world's biggest fitness freaks. Devon's abs were every bit as defined. Could it possibly be watching that fight? That was something Devon would never have done, and Ellie knew she would be furious at him if he ever tried.

But Cole . . . it was impressive how he handled himself so easily. Could it really be that? Enlightened, modern, woman's rights activist Doctor Eleanor Bartowski was reduced to a blushing schoolgirl by a good-looking, macho, alpha male beating down a group of bad guys? That couldn't be it. Although she had to admit, there was a tingling in her stomach that she hadn't felt in a long, long time. It was exciting, like her first high school crush.

She knew that she had to get the image of Cole during that fight out of her mind or bad things were going to happen, like maybe crashing the car. So she focused on her own mission. Chuck and Sarah were simply too cute to not be together. Ellie knew that Sarah wasn't coming totally clean with her. There was some other issue that she wasn't sharing. She was afraid for some reason. Maybe she had been hurt in the past, but the girl was so obviously in love. Ellie was confident, if she could just get Sarah to take a little bit of a chance, the floodgates would quickly open. But the question was: how? Her walls were truly impressive.

She glanced over at Cole to assess his worth. Could he help? He was the macho type, which meant that he probably wasn't going to respond well to nuanced feelings. Hell, he probably didn't even know what _nuanced_ meant. No, Cole was good for one thing. Well, besides being pretty to look at. Point him towards the bad guys and stay out of his way. Maybe she could talk him into at least staying out of their way. After all, Chuck was clearly jealous of him. It wouldn't do for him to be constantly hanging around them only to give Chuck more opportunity to compare himself to the Brit.

However, he _was_ a fellow spy. Maybe he could be the one to get behind Sarah's defenses to understand what makes her tick, understand what's keeping her from committing to Chuck. But how to approach it? Maybe a little flirtation would work. _These macho types usually eat that up_.

"I wonder what Chuck and Sarah are doing," she said as she flashed her brightest smile at him.

Cole didn't look at her. Leaning his head back against the seat rest, he said, "I imagine they're still dancing."

"Dancing?" Ellie questioned with a confused look. "When were they dancing?"

Then Cole looked over and returned her smile, and for a moment Ellie forgot the question. "Ever since I met them," he replied. "You've never heard of the we're-pretending-we-don't-love-each-other dance?"

Ellie was, to put it mildly, stunned. That was at least a lucid thought. Perhaps she had misjudged him, and a wave of shame ran through her. She'd always prided herself on treating people fairly, especially as a doctor, and here she'd been so wrapped up in the persona he put forward that she'd forgotten to look for the man beneath.

"I guess not. At least I've never heard it called that," she said. With a frown, she murmured, almost to herself, "It's sad, isn't it?"

"Beyond sad," he confirmed, looking almost as forlorn as she. "It's a Greek tragedy. But what do you propose that we do about it?"

_Wow, that was hopeful, _she thought._ Maybe turn it up just a notch_. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes," Ellie told him firmly. "What about you?"

"A spy would say using any and all means necessary," Cole replied with a grin. "And, yes, I'm in."

This was actually going quite well. She was starting to realize that she didn't even need to flirt. Cole seemed to be genuinely interested in helping Chuck and Sarah.

"We need to get them alone," Ellie said. "The best way would be if you and I made ourselves . . . otherwise occupied for the next two weeks. Would you be willing to play along?"

Cole narrowed his brows. "What would your fiancé think about that?" he asked quietly. "I understand that he's a decent sort. Chuck is clearly quite fond of him. I wouldn't want to cause any tension."

Ellie swallowed, unable to deny any longer the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that Cole was different than she'd pegged him to be. The type of man she was picturing wouldn't care about any fiancé's feelings, just how quickly he could separate you from your panties.

"Devon will understand," she finally assured him. "He's not really the jealous type. We're just playing a role, right? Nothing will really happen."

"Well, in that case," Cole said, "who could say no to spending time with such a beautiful lady? Like we used to say at Oxford, anything for a friend."

Now there was the smooth pickup line that Ellie had been expecting. Just when she began to pride herself on being right, the word 'Oxford' resounded in her head. Oxford? A guy like Cole? Then a solution presented itself – football scholarship.

"You went to Oxford?" she asked. "Did you play football then? Let me guess, you were a . . . linebacker?"

Going to UCLA and dating Devon had taught her a lot about football. She remembered seeing the players walking around campus in their jerseys, remembered that they were always the macho types. It was actually somewhat of a pet peeve of hers. UCLA was one of the top medical schools in the entire world, but anytime someone would learn that she went there, all they could talk about was the damn football team. Cole must have played. How else could someone like that possibly have gotten into as prestigious a school as Oxford?

"Come on, Eleanor," Cole smiled. "You're much too intelligent to ask me that, especially when you know that our football is what you'd call soccer."

Another wave of shame washed over her. She really had to stop assuming things like that. After all, Sarah was a spy as well, and Ellie certainly didn't think she was stupid. Sarah Walker was one of the smartest women she knew.

With an apologetic smile, she offered, "Well, what did you do there? Can you tell me that?"

Shrugging, he said, "I was in the history club, but the debate team took up most of my time. I captained it a couple of terms. And if I _had_ played American football, which I've only done in pick-up games, I'm much too slight to be a linebacker. I'm thinking more of a tight end"

Ellie, frowning, tightened her grip on the wheel. Cole was captain of the Oxford Debate team? That was the résumé that a Prime Minister would boast of. She'd gone to a couple of the UCLA debates when she was an undergrad, enough to know that it was a good program, but nowhere close to being in Oxford's league. Even though she'd never met a debater who looked like Cole Barker, even though she was sure he was qualified to be a tight end in more than one way, the plain fact was that she'd massively misjudged him.

"Cole," she said seriously, "tell me. Why are you a spy?"

Cole just looked out the window. "I'll tell you what, Eleanor," he said. "That's somewhat of its own Greek tragedy. Maybe we'll save that story for when I know you a little better."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was having such a good dream, and good dreams were such a rare thing for her. Nightmares, on the other hand, were fairly common. They were warned about that in training all the time. It was simply an occupational hazard of being a spy.

As Sarah floated there in that space halfway between sleeping and waking, she knew that she should wake up. Even sleeping, a spy should never allow herself to be this unaware of her surroundings. But lying there with his arms around her, she felt so . . . safe. Safe and warm and almost happy even. So she just snuggled a little closer and sighed.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry."

Sarah snapped her eyes open to find Ellie standing at the foot of the bed, looking not in the least bit sorry. As a matter of fact, she looked downright un-sorry. The grin on her face told Sarah that she was without question going to be treated to another long pre-bedtime session of sisterly gloating, and she would now certainly have more than enough ammunition.

It was fairly intuitive that Chuck was having a fairly good dream of his own, at least based upon the smile on his lips and the way their legs were presently intertwined, not to mention the fact that his left hand was half way up her shirt. The horror in his wide eyes as he was startled awake and realized the scene that his sister was currently witnessing had him frozen, unsure what to do.

"I just wanted to tell you that we're back," Ellie said with a smirk. "I'm going to be next door stitching Cole up. It should take another hour. Forget I was even here." And with that, Ellie was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

Sarah sighed. It was time to face the music. Chuck was certainly going to call her out on how they had ended up in such an intimate position, and what could she say? She may as well come clean.

When Sarah turned her attention back to Chuck, though, his face was redder than she'd ever seen it. He withdrew his hand from her shirt like it was on fire.

"Sarah," he whispered, "I'm so, so sorry. I . . . I must have been dreaming."

Sarah had felt guilt before, lots of times, especially around him, but she nearly couldn't take the look in his eye or the hurt in his voice. He was blaming himself, and this was completely her fault. Sure, the hand sliding up her shirt was all him, but she had clearly started it. It was a fairly predictable reaction to her snuggling against him as he slept. It wasn't fair for him to feel bad about anything, but at least it meant she was off the hook. She could deal with a little guilt if it meant not having to venture into that territory right now.

Sitting on the side of the bed, head in hands, he said, "I was afraid something like that would happen. That's why I've always been so nervous about sleeping together."

She had to smile at that, had to admit it was cute how worried he was about offending her. Willing herself to calm her own beating heart, she took a deep breath and said, "Chuck, it's okay. Stuff like that happens. It's no big deal. Don't even worry about it."

He looked up with a frown. "You're . . . you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not," she assured him with a shake of her head.

Of course she wasn't mad, at least not at him. It was true that she was currently more than a little annoyed at Ellie for interrupting the moment. Embarrassed and guilty as well, even turned on. But mad?

"Come on, Chuck," she smiled. "Why would I be mad? It was . . . nice."

"'Nice'?" he parroted, though she could see the relief on his face. "Gee, thanks for making me feel like I'm eight."

A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Tell me," she said with a sparkle in her eyes. "What were you dreaming about finding inside my shirt anyway? Knives? At least, I hope it was a good dream."

While she hadn't imagined that Chuck's face could get any redder, the next instant proved her wrong. At least he realized she was teasing him, because he looked her straight in the eye with his own smile.

"Yes, Sarah," he nodded, "I was definitely dreaming about knives. And it was a very good dream, thank you for asking." Rubbing the red spot on his neck where her lips had touched, he asked, "How was yours?"

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was definitely wrong about one thing. If she expected Ellie to wait and gloat before they went to bed tonight, she had seriously miscalculated. The actual assault came much earlier. As soon as they were alone in their room, Sarah figured out that showering and changing their clothes were just excuses for Ellie to corner her.

"Oh my God," Ellie laughed, mirth clearly displayed in her eyes, "is that how you two act all the time?"

Sarah's first defense, as always, was to play dumb. "Act like what?" she asked in as innocent a tone as she could muster, not even daring to look at her friend. "We took a nap."

Ellie, as Sarah expected, was having none of it. Hands on hips, she rounded on Sarah. "Sarah Walker!" she exclaimed in her best mock-angry tone. "Don't you dare even try it. You were all over each other. Are you really going to tell me that, oh, I don't know, he lost something and was looking for it inside of your shirt?" Still laughing, she added, "Your face was buried in his neck, and I don't have to guess where your lips were."

Taking a deep breath, Sarah sat down on the bed. Sadly, she told Ellie, "That was a mistake. I . . . just couldn't help myself. That's what happens. My willpower, my walls, they're unshakable . . ."

"Until you're alone with him," Ellie finished for her, surprised at the desperation in Sarah's voice. "And if you're alone with him much longer, you'll cave."

Sarah nodded. "And that would be a disaster." She swallowed, let out a breath, then said, "That's why I need your help."

Ellie sat down beside her. "I don't understand. Why would it be so bad?"

"Because," Sarah frowned, "once Chuck knows how I really feel, there'd be no way to go back to a professional relationship. And that's the only way to keep him safe."

"You're wrong," Ellie smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You're wrong on so many levels that it's actually hard to keep track."

Sarah, in spite of herself, felt a smile tug at her lips at Ellie's enthusiasm. "How? You don't understand the situation."

"Maybe not," shrugged Ellie. "Maybe I don't understand anything about being a spy. But I do understand people, and right now, Sarah, this has you tied up in so many knots. How could you possibly do any job effectively when you're so consumed with personal issues? Can't you see that? Another thing is that you're not giving Chuck enough credit. You shouldn't be trying to hide this from him. You should be letting him help you with it."

"Come on, Ellie," Sarah said. "Admit it. You're biased. And it's clouding your judgment. You want to see us together. You're just in love with the romance of the thing."

Ellie shook her head, and, with a definite edge in her voice, replied, "That's where you're most wrong. I'm going to say this one more time, Sarah. What I love is you. What I love is Chuck. If I honestly thought that staying apart was the right thing for the both of you, I'd tell you so. I'd even help you with it. You thinking anything else breaks my heart." She paused, gathered her thoughts before continuing, "But what I've witnessed for the past day has me so positive that I can't even believe we're having this discussion. You need him, Sarah, just as much as he needs you. So stop fighting it. Help him, and let him help you. Please, try it for just these two weeks." Smiling, she took Sarah's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Trust me, you'll wonder why you ever thought it was impossible."

Sarah shook her head. "How could I possibly try it, even for two weeks? Once I said anything, there'd be no going back, and you know that. It doesn't matter who made the first move; we both want to rip each other's clothes off as it is. It . . . it would be the point of no return."

"Okay, yes, Sarah, you're probably going to have to hold off on the sex thing for a while, until you're sure it can work. I definitely agree with you about that. But we're being honest here. The one who's going to struggle more with this one isn't Chuck, is it?"

Sarah's only response was a furious blush.

Ellie had to work hard to keep her grin from turning into a gloating smirk. "You don't have to be embarrassed about that," she laughed. "You're in love with the man. Talk to him honestly about it. We're already off to a great start with the whole honesty thing here. Just tell him how you feel, Sarah, and explain why it can't happen yet. He'll understand. I know he will."

"I don't know, Ellie," she frowned. "Chuck is sort of an all-or-nothing sort of guy."

"Just try it," Ellie urged. "He'll even help you with it. Besides, do you really think he doesn't already know? I know my brother can be a little dense, and that he's not big in the self-confidence department, but he's not completely clueless. He knows, at some level anyway. But he's confused about how you're acting, and he needs some reassurance. One minute you're yelling at him and pushing him away, the next you're snuggling up with him for a nap. If you'd simply tell him what's really going on, I bet you'd be surprised at how supportive he'd be. All you're doing right now is frustrating him. And yourself. And me, for that matter."

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm frustrating you," Sarah said sarcastically, the beginnings of a smile on her lips. "Wouldn't want that."

Ellie grinned back. "Sarah, I trust you with my life. You know that, right? Don't you trust me? I would never try to talk you into something this major unless I was sure that it would be in your best interests. Let me work this out for you."

"Two weeks?" Sarah asked hesitantly. "And we agree that there will be no sex."

"Absolutely," Ellie said. "Other than that, you're a normal couple."

"How normal?" Sarah asked. Chuck was the normal one, not her. "I'm not even sure I know what that means."

"Sweetie," Ellie began incredulously, "just be like you were with your boyfriends before you became a spy."

Sarah averted her eyes. Finally, she admitted, "I've never actually had a real boyfriend before."

Ellie paused for a moment. That certainly explained a lot. "Well," she said softly, drawing Sarah closer, "you're in luck. I can't imagine a better first boyfriend than Chuck. You want to know what normal means? It means being honest with each other. Honest about what you want, honest about how you feel. It means being supportive of each other. You'll just be two people in love, and, believe me, you'll never want it to end."

"Fine," Sarah said with a defeated sigh. "I have to do something; I know that now. But only if I hear from his lips that he agrees this is just a trial, and that we'll go back to being professional after two weeks."

"He'll agree," Ellie said, beaming at her. "You just leave that all to me. For one thing, he has no choice. It's either this or nothing. I think we might have just invented something – a trial togetherness, sort of the opposite of a trial separation. We'll work it out tonight just before bed."

Sarah couldn't resist Ellie's infectious grin, and a grin was suddenly tugging at the corners of her own mouth. "Great," she said with another dose of sarcasm, "I'm so glad you're happy. Maybe you should apply for a patent on the name."

x-x-x-x-x

Since none of them had eaten anything since breakfast and they were starving from the excitement of the day, dinner time came fairly early. After showering and changing into fresh clothes, they piled into the car and drove around on the lookout for an eating establishment, eventually finding a run-down place that could only loosely be called a restaurant, in Ellie's opinion at least.

They were all so hungry that food was the first thing on their minds, but the conversation quickly got around to what was worrying everyone.

"What happened this morning?" Ellie asked. "I thought that no one knew where we are. Are we in more danger than we thought?"

Cole and Sarah looked at each other for a long moment. "We're not sure," Sarah finally admitted. "That's something that we're going to have to figure out soon. We're safe for now at least. No one could possibly know where we are. I'm not even sure."

"The only thing I can figure," Cole said, "is that Agent Casey tipped them off somehow. He's the only one who knew where we were meeting."

Sarah smiled a little at the suggestion that Casey would be so sloppy. "No way," she said, shaking her head. "Casey is sometimes annoying, that's true, but he's also the consummate professional. He would never betray us, accidentally or not. I'd bet my life on that. Which means they must have found out some other way. Where did you discuss the meeting place?"

"In Castle," Cole replied. "When we got word of the crisis, he left to get Dr. Woodcomb, and I left to get you. Casey's the one who told me where to meet."

"That's odd," Sarah said thoughtfully.

"Castle is under constant surveillance," Chuck said. "Maybe Fulcrum hacked that somehow."

"I'm not willing to rule anything out," Sarah said, "but that's highly unlikely. The CIA uses the same security features on those feeds that protect our nuclear weapons. If that is compromised, the four of us are the least of anybody's problems."

Cole frowned and took a breath before suggesting gently, "Perhaps someone inside the CIA is compromised." He knew it was treading on thin ice with Agent Walker to imply that her agency couldn't be trusted, but it was a real possibility at this point. "After all, there are probably a few people with access to that surveillance."

If Cole was worried about offending Agent Walker, he shouldn't have. "That's true," she nodded. "That, however, rules out contacting Beckman. As of right now, we officially trust no one. We'll have to go completely off the grid. Maybe that's what her concern was all along."

Ellie's gaze flickered from Sarah to Cole and back again. "What about Devon?" she asked.

Sarah, seeing the fear in her eyes, reached over and grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about Devon," she said confidently. "He's definitely in good hands with Casey."

"I agree," Cole said. "When Agent Casey got to the mall, he wouldn't have been able to miss the commotion that our little adventure undoubtedly caused. He's almost certainly just come to the same conclusion that we just did. I'm willing to bet he's gone off the grid as well."

Just then, the waitress came to the table and freshened up their coffee. "I'm sorry, sir," she said. "Your credit card has been declined."

Cole's surprise didn't show on his face, but Sarah was the only one to pick up on the strain in his voice.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Perhaps you could run it again."

The waitress smiled apologetically. "We tried several times. My manager even called the bank. They said the card had been canceled this morning."

"Here," Ellie said as she drew some bills out of her purse and handed them to the waitress. "I have some cash left from this morning."

"That's peculiar," Cole murmured thoughtfully, more to himself than anybody, as he replaced the card in his wallet. "Who on earth would cancel my credit card?"

Suddenly, his alarmed gaze locked with Sarah's. They had both come to the same conclusion at exactly the same time.

"Chuck, Ellie," Sarah said quickly, tension obvious in her voice. "Get in the car."

Cole's jaw tightened. "Right now."

x-x-x-x-x


	6. A Matter of Trust

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**A Matter of Trust**

x-x-x-x-x

There could be no mistaking the look of urgency on Sarah's face. Something was obviously not right. So Chuck and Ellie got up without any objection and walked out of the restaurant and briskly to the car. Once they were all in, Cole quickly drove out of the parking lot.

The car was silent for a long, tense moment. "Okay, Sarah," Ellie finally said,  
"what's going on?"

Sarah, a deep frown etched into her brow, didn't stop looking anxiously out the car windows. "Not now, Ellie," she said. "Okay? We think we figured out how Fulcrum is tracking us. If we're right, they are on their way. We have to get out of here before they show up."

When Ellie looked over at Sarah, she noticed for the first time that she was holding her gun in her lap. She still wasn't used to the fact that the woman she counted as her best friend regularly carried a gun, but Sarah had already ejected the clip and was looking at it critically, as she must have done countless times. Ellie glanced at her brother, wondered how many times he'd seen this for himself, but his face showed no surprise.

Sarah turned to Cole and asked, "How much ammo do you have?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Cole replied. "I used an entire clip this morning. I have one full clip and a partial. That's probably about twenty rounds. You?"

"I only have this one," Sarah said as she slammed it back into the gun, "but it's full."

"Thirty-five rounds between us," Cole murmured, more to himself than anybody. "That's not enough to fight. We'll have to hide."

"We'll need to buy some more tomorrow," Sarah sighed.

"First, let's make sure," Cole said.

They had been driving up a desolate stretch of mountain road about five miles outside of town. Cole pulled the car off the road and out of sight into the brush that had overgrown the side of the road. Then he turned to Chuck. "There's a pair of glasses in the glove," he said. "Would you get them for me?" As soon as Chuck wordlessly handed him the binoculars, he turned to Sarah. "Ready?"

Chuck's shoulders slumped. He was only an asset, and Cole and Sarah could definitely handle themselves, but it stung to be left out of their conversations.

Sarah nodded. "But I need a private word with Chuck first," she said. Turning toward the man in question, she asked, "Will you step out of the car with me for a second? Cole, I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Chuck climbed slowly out of the car, and Sarah was already there in front of him. Taking a step forward, she reached out to straighten his collar. He frowned slightly but let her continue her ministrations. She always had a way of finding excuses to be close to him. He had come to recognize it was her way of trying to say more than she was allowed.

Right now, though, she said softly, "I need a favor."

Chuck, unable to read the expression on her face, simply nodded.

She sighed, licked her lips, hesitated. Finally, as she picked lint off of his shoulder, she said, "Agent Walker has told you to stay in the car lots of time, and you never, not once, have listened. It's pretty much your defining characteristic." She paused again, took a steeling breath. "Remember I asked you to trust me?" He didn't respond, so she prompted more forcefully, "Remember?"

"I remember, I remember," Chuck replied, thinking back to the night of their very first date.

Sarah nodded, finally meeting and holding his eyes. "I'm asking you to trust me now. I'm asking you to please, please stay in this car. Promise me that you will wait for me in this car. Not for Agent Walker this time, not for the CIA or the mission or because it's actually the smart thing to do. Just do it for me, the girl you care for . . . because you know that she's worried about you."

Chuck, looking into her eyes, saw something that he had never seen there before. He saw doubt, coupled with fear even. And he also now knew that Cole was exactly right. He knew what she was really asking him, and it was much more than simply staying in the car. He nodded again.

Sarah firmly shook her head. "I need to hear you say it," she whispered. "I know that if you tell me, you'll keep your word. Please, Chuck, I . . . I need to know."

There was a certain desperation in her voice, perhaps even a hint of panic, but whatever it was, Chuck knew exactly what she was really telling him. He took a deep breath and forced the soft smile on his face. "You know that I'll always do anything that you need," he said. "Always. I'll even stay in the car for you. I promise."

Sarah, a slow smile spreading across her lips, moved forward and kissed him softly. She let go of his shirt to hold his face lightly in her hands, her thumb ghosting under his jaw. Naturally, they had kissed before. They'd actually kissed several times for cover reasons, both short pecks and longer, more intense kisses. And of course there was the infamous incident in front of the pseudo-bomb. This wasn't like any of those past times though. It was tender, reaching, not at all like the hard, desperately urgent kiss that time on the docks. It was affectionate, loving even, purely electric.

When the long kiss finally broke, Sarah smiled softly and said, "Thank you, Chuck. That means a lot to me. Don't worry. I'll be back soon. We're just going to scout out the situation."

Sarah turned to leave, but stopped when she was just a few steps away. She might have been jumping the gun a little with that kiss. After all, Ellie hadn't even gotten around to telling him about the trial togetherness yet. Somehow she figured he wouldn't mind though, especially when she half turned back to see him still standing there with that adorable, confused half-grin of his, a grin that matched the one that was currently plastered all over her own face.

"I've been wanting to do that all day," was all she said before she quickly turned away and disappeared into the darkness to find Cole.

As soon as Chuck was back in the car, Ellie was all over him. "What's going on?" she asked. "What did she say? She just kissed you!"

Chuck just took a deep breath and looked to where Sarah had just disappeared into the thick overgrowth. "I think . . . I think she's in love with me," he finally said, that dazed look still on his face.

Ellie's eyes widened. "She said that?" she exclaimed. "That's fantastic news. It's about damn time."

"Well," Chuck shrugged, "she didn't say _exactly_ those words." He may have been overstepping his bounds a little, but Sarah was the kind of girl to say things without really saying them, the kind of girl to put truth into the adage, 'Actions speak louder than words.' And that kiss spoke volumes. "I know I'm thick, Ellie, but . . . this time even I knew what she was saying."

Ellie leaned forward to touch his shoulder. Smiling, she said, "You know she's loved you for a long time. She's just struggled with how to say it." Her eyes narrowed as she caught the look on his face. "What's the matter, Chuck? Isn't that what you wanted? You don't sound all that happy about it."

Chuck looked back at his sister for the first time. "Of course it's what I want," he said. "It was probably the best moment of my whole life."

Indeed, he could still feel his pulse racing at the speed of light.

"So what's wrong?" Ellie frowned.

Chuck stared out the window for a long moment. "She's hurting, Ellie," he finally blurted out. "I . . . I never wanted to hurt her."

"I know," Ellie said, "but she's not hurting because of you. She's hurting because she's a problem solver, and she can't quite figure out how to give into her feelings without jeopardizing your safety."

Chuck shook his head. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Be gentle with her," Ellie advised. "Sarah's pretty new to all of this. She's never been in love before, not like this. She's scared; she doesn't know what to do. She needs you to help her with it. But I promise you, if you do . . . you can get everything that you want."

"Me?" Chuck questioned with a short cryptic laugh. "She's in big trouble if she needs me to help her."

"You're right, sweetie,' Ellie said with her own laugh as she playfully punched him in the arm. "She's in big, big trouble."

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah found Cole, he was already lying on his stomach between two boulders peering through the binoculars at the town. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Fine," Sarah said, forcing the calmness into her voice. "I just wanted to make sure that they would stay in the car. We might have to move quickly and they need to be in there when we get back."

Cole took his eyes away from the glasses for a second and turned to look at Sarah. "He's a good man," he said. "Currently a little confused, maybe, but I can't say that I blame him."

_No kidding. Talk about stating the obvious_. The last thing that Sarah wanted at this point was to have to participate in a relationship counseling session conducted by Cole Barker. She already knew damn well that she hadn't been treating Chuck very fairly. She knew it better than anybody. She sure as hell didn't need to be constantly reminded about it by every single person that talked to her. Ellie was bad enough. She only wished someone would have the sense to see that she's _trying_.

"I have the situation under control," she said, perhaps a little harsher than she intended, only to regret the words before they were all the way out of her mouth. Not only was it far too harsh a thing to say to someone who was trying to be her friend, it was the biggest lie she had ever uttered, next to that mission over a year ago when she'd told Chuck there was nothing 'under the under cover thing.' She didn't even have herself under control, much less the situation.

If Cole took any offense, he didn't show it. "Fair enough," he said with a shrug and returned his attention to the town.

Sarah didn't want Cole to get the wrong idea. "Look," she said softly, "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just . . . I'm a little touchy when it comes to Chuck. It's . . . It's . . ."

"Complicated," Cole finished with a sigh. "Tell me about it. Do you really think that I don't know what that feels like? I don't have any advice for you, not that you were looking for any. Just that he's a good man. More than good, he's decent, honorable, which is more than you can say for most we meet in this nasty business. An incredible, beautiful, badass super spy such as yourself could probably do a lot worse."

"Thanks," Sarah said. "So how's it going with you and Ellie?"

"'Complicated' seems to be the word of the day, doesn't it?" Cole answered with a laugh. "The good doctor clearly thinks I'm a cave man. I would say 'Neanderthal' except she doesn't think I know what that means."

In spite of the tenseness of the situation, Sarah couldn't help but laugh softly at Cole's description. "She's probably just getting used to the whole spy thing. I can assure you that she's more than just a good doctor," she said. "She's a good person. I would hate for her to get hurt."

"Meaning what?" Cole asked softly. "She's not safe with the cave man?"

"I didn't mean that," Sarah said. "It's just that . . . Look, Cole, I'm really not trying to offend you, but I'm not going to dance around this. I've seen for myself what sort of man you are, and – "

"Hang on. What sort of man I am?"

"I just meant, you're charming, and really only after one thing, and Ellie's a beautiful, wonderful woman. I realize that she's a big girl and can certainly make her own romantic decisions, but I care about her. And from where I'm standing, you and her sleeping together wouldn't be a good thing."

Cole, a frown on his face, kept his gaze directed toward the town for a long moment. Without looking at her, he finally said, "Tell me about this Devon. Is he a good guy? Will he take care of her?"

Sarah was surprised by the vulnerability in Cole's voice. She glanced over at him, trying to get a read on what was going through his head. "Devon is amazing," she said after a moment. "He's the nicest guy that you're ever going to meet, except maybe for Chuck. He is a brilliant doctor, he looks like he just stepped off the cover of a glamour magazine, and he's so devoted to her that when you first meet him you think that he must be faking it. But he isn't. It's hard to believe, but also pretty sweet."

"Wow," Cole said with a sarcastic laugh that was clearly designed to break the mood. "I just can't seem to catch a break lately, can I? Here I meet two amazing, gorgeous, smart, and funny women in the same week, and they're both in love with supermen. What's a guy to do?"

Cole obviously wasn't interested in being the recipient of a relationship counseling session either. Unable to fault him for that, Sarah settled for humor. "Ellie was telling me that her doctor friend at the clinic appeared to be quite interested this afternoon," she said with a smile. "Or I can send you the link to an Internet dating site that the Buy More workers use tomorrow. I hear it's quite good."

"I'll keep both of those in mind," Cole said as he handed Sarah the binoculars. "It's always nice to have options, assuming that there is a tomorrow."

When Sarah looked, she immediately saw what Cole was talking about. Several black cars had pulled into the restaurant parking lot. Quickly the scene was crawling with what were obviously Fulcrum Agents.

"Well," she said, "at least now we know the situation. What should we do?"

"Whatever we do," Cole replied as he got quickly to his feet, "we sure can't do it here. They're going to tear that town apart looking for us. They know what we look like, what our car looks like. We need to get very far away from here as quickly as we can."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Cole and Sarah got back to the car, Sarah opened the door where Ellie was sitting. "Trade spots with Chuck," she told her. "We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. They're looking for four people, so Chuck and I are going to get low and out of sight. Ellie, if you would sit next to Cole, put your head on his shoulder, and hide his face with your hair as much as possible, they might think you're just a couple out for a drive."

Responding to the bewildered look that Ellie was giving her, Sarah sighed. "If you're uncomfortable, I can trade with you. It's just that my blonde hair is going to be more noticeable."

That wasn't the only reason of course. She knew that Chuck would understand. Of course he would. This was for the mission, and if it would mean that they would be safer, she would do it without thinking. It's just that the open wound of his jealousy of Cole was still pretty fresh. The very last thing that Sarah wanted to do was rub salt in it by pretending to snuggle with Cole in that front seat literally right in front of him.

Fortunately, Ellie just laughed. "Don't be silly," she said as she slid over close to Cole. "I assume that you found out what you were looking for."

"I'm afraid so," Sarah said as she scooted down in the seat. "The place is crawling with agents. It would have only been a matter of a few minutes before they found us, if not at the restaurant, surely at the motel. We would have been defenseless."

"I don't understand," Chuck said as he leaned over and put his head in Sarah's lap. "Why would they cancel his credit card? That's how they were following us."

"They wouldn't," Cole said as he pulled the car back onto the road. "Agent Casey is the only one who would have done that. He was obviously warning us. That's the good news here. He clearly has figured this out as well. That means they're safe . . . as safe as we are anyway."

"That's good," Ellie said with a sigh of relief. "I was worried sick. So what do we do now?"

"We need to get far, far away from here," Sarah said. "They know what we look like. That means we're not safe anywhere in the Los Angeles area. I'm thinking that we should get out of the state entirely for two weeks. We need to blend in somewhere that they would never look."

The car was quiet for a few minutes, the tension high as they all thought.

Finally, Ellie said, "I have an idea. Let's go to a resort. We'll blend in as tourists, just look like two couples on vacation."

"That actually isn't a bad idea," Cole said. "We wouldn't stand out. Everyone is a stranger when they're on vacation. Perhaps Cabo? That's a reasonable drive."

"Not Cabo," Sarah quickly said, more harshly than she intended. Then she realized how Chuck was looking at her. It was not the time to tell him about the week that she and Bryce had spent there. Then again, there would probably never be a really good time for that story. "It's just," she stammered, "I've heard bad things about Cabo. What about Cancun?"

"That's a longer trip," Cole said, "but maybe farther away is better. They would never look for us there. We'll spend a couple of weeks lying on the beach and drinking rum. The only problem is with two such beautiful ladies wearing bikinis - which I can't wait to see, by the way – I doubt that we'll be totally blending in." He grinned. "Oh well, can't be helped."

"And maybe we can actually eat at a decent restaurant," Ellie sighed. "I've had enough greasy spoon-type meals to last for a long time."

"What are we going to do for money?" Chuck asked. "Resorts are expensive. We were depending on Cole's credit card."

For the second time, silence descended upon them. After a few torturous minutes, Sarah sighed. "Drive us to San Diego."

"Okay," Chuck finally said, "I'll bite. What's in San Diego?"

Sarah twisted uncomfortably. "The bank . . . where our money is," was all she said.

Ellie turned to look at Sarah in the back seat with a grin. "Sarah," she cried out in mock horror, "don't tell me that we're going to stick up a bank."

Cole laughed. "We can't rob a bank, Eleanor," he said with his own grin. "Far too much security. Liquor stores, now that's what you rob. San Diego is loaded with them. They're easy."

"Liquor stores?" Sarah scoffed from the back seat. "That's small time. They've got enough money for street crooks, but not for what we're talking about. You rob a bank. That's where the real money is. Everyone knows that."

"Then you get caught," Cole shook his head. "I'm telling you, it's better to knock off a series of liquor stores. They deal in cash, and you're in and out so fast that they don't even get a good description."

"Please," Sarah said while trying hard not to laugh, "we're two of the top covert agents in the world. Are you telling me that we couldn't devise a plan to rob a simple bank? We'd disable their security, hit them, and be off somewhere drinking our celebratory champagne before they even knew anything had happened."

"I suppose we _could_ do that," Cole said thoughtfully, "if we had the time to plan it properly. But it would take too long to get in position to disable their security. We don't have days. I'm thinking more along the lines of a simple diversion. After all, we have two incredibly beautiful women on our team. We might as well use all of our assets, right? Bank security guards are almost always men . . ."

"Maybe," Sarah said, biting her lip. "That _would_ be a lot faster. If we were going the seduction route, I'd have to take the manager. So a lot of our success would depend on Ellie. What do you say, Ellie? Are you up for seducing a bank guard?"

Ellie, who was watching the exchange with ever widening eyes, didn't respond right away.

"Don't worry," Sarah said soothingly. "I'm thinking that it might not even require any actual sex. Although we didn't really buy any good seduction outfits this morning, so we might have to go a little farther than usual. Maybe a little second base type necking."

"What?" Ellie finally gasped. "Are you serious?"

Finally, Chuck could take no more, so he sat up for a second. "Ellie," he said, "they're teasing you. Guys, you're scaring the civilian."

That completely broke the tension in the car. They all started laughing.

"Very funny," Ellie was finally able to get out. "You two almost had me going for a minute."

At least, now Sarah was in a much better mood. Chuck could feel her continue to silently laugh as his head rested on her lap. She even grabbed his hand and softly intertwined their fingers.

"Sorry, Ellie," she was finally able to control herself enough to say, though she had to admit, it was fair turnabout for Ellie's earlier gloat about her and Chuck. She had to learn that two could play that game. "That was evil, wasn't it? I couldn't help it. It was just too much fun."

Actually, they really didn't have to keep up the couple's charade any longer. They were now far beyond any distance where Fulcrum would be looking for them tonight. But Chuck's head resting in her lap felt so good, so nice, so normal. It felt so comfortable to just be able to sit there and silently hold his hand. And Ellie didn't even seem to mind her assignment all that much. So Sarah just let them go. After all . . .

You could never be too careful.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck looked up as Sarah walked through the door. They were in another of their series of low-budget no-tel motels. This one was in a rural area about an hour's drive outside of San Diego.

They had scraped together enough cash from this morning's shopping to pay for two rooms. They'd even had enough left to make a trip to the drug store to replace all of the personal toiletry items they were forced to leave behind in the last motel, which meant the girls were able to have their own brands of makeup and shampoos.

Another plus was that Sarah was able to talk Ellie into finally taking the stupid cast off of Chuck's foot. The doctor had quickly admitted it was overly cautious in the first place, and Chuck would have had a hard time blending it at a resort while hobbling around in a cast.

He made a pretense of wiggling his toes for her. "Look," he smiled, "good as new."

"Glad to hear it," she returned.

"So," he began cautiously, "a trial togetherness, huh?"

Nodding, Sarah took a seat beside him on the bed. She'd thought he would want to talk about this. He'd probably been bursting to ever since she and Ellie had raised the subject with him earlier. "That's right," she said.

"What exactly is that? I mean, what are the parameters here? I don't want to overstep my bounds."

"We're a couple, Chuck," she explained, "just . . ."

"A different sort of a couple?" he offered with another smile.

A smile of her own blossomed on her lips as she remembered the time she'd said those very words to him. It was no less true now. "Exactly," she said, "only we can be more open with our feelings now. There won't be any cameras watching our every move."

His face brightened with happiness as he slid an arm around her waist and leaned a bit closer. "No cameras?" he inquired.

She stopped him with a palm against his chest. "No cameras, but still some rules."

"Like the no sex thing?" he sighed, pulling back a little.

"Yeah, about that . . ." began Sarah, pursing her lips as she pondered how to approach that topic.

Luckily, Chuck just smiled and took the blow for her. "Just, please tell me it's not forever," he said, with a desperate hope in his voice that she found sort of adorable.

"Don't worry, Chuck," she told him happily. "It's not forever." Her smile faded a little as she breathed a sigh and continued, "That is, if we can figure this out."

Chuck nodded, a serious expression clouding his face again. "Ellie said something about proving that we can be together and still be effective as a team, that you can still protect me."

"And if we went too far before we knew that . . ." Sarah let the sentence hang, trusting that he could fill in the consequences for himself. It'd be the point of no return.

Surprisingly, Chuck grinned. "So let me get this straight . . . I've got two weeks to prove to you that our relationship doesn't have to interfere with the safety and stability of the entire country? Two weeks to change your mind about relationships in the spy world? Two weeks to, basically, audition to see if I can be a good boyfriend?"

Sarah stood up quickly, crossed to the window, and blew out her breath in frustration. Of course he would find a way to not be serious about this, this silly trial togetherness of Ellie's which could potentially be the most important two weeks of her life.

"I knew this wouldn't work," she sighed. "I shouldn't have even asked."

"Sarah," Chuck said, realizing he'd pushed too far and jumping up from the bed, "Sarah, I'm sorry. That was a really lousy thing to say. I know that you're trying, and I really appreciate that." He offered a hopeful smile and a half-shrug as he said, "I'll try, too."

He reached out a hand in an apology. She regarded it sadly for a moment. Swallowing back the tears that were threatening to rise, she wiped her face and took his hand.

"Thank you, Chuck," she said. "That means a lot to me." She took a deep breath. "I hope you know that I _do_ want this, more than you can know, but it goes against everything I've been taught for the past ten years. I . . . I'd give anything for this to work. I just don't think it can. I hope I'm wrong."

He gave her fingers a light, reassuring squeeze. "I hope you are, too." A blush crept onto his cheeks as he continued, "And I hope you know that I'm okay with this no-sex thing, I really am. I know that's a touchy subject for you, but I don't think like a spy, and you're not just some conquest to me." He smiled. "You're Sarah, and I never want to hurt you."

Sarah swallowed thickly, her eyes locked with his. Leave it to Chuck to find the perfect words in this moment. He really was the best first boyfriend a woman like her could have.

Shrugging off her look of amazement, he pulled her back down on the bed. "You know what? Let's not even worry about that now. I'm entirely too happy to worry about anything right now. I've got the most amazing girlfriend . . . for two whole weeks. That's more than most guys ever have." He paused before asking, "So, what do you want to do first? Tell me your real life story? Describe all the things you love about me?"

He had forgotten how quickly he could spook her, how quickly his Sarah could close off and revert to Agent Walker. Her expression had flashed alarm before going blank.

"Hey, hey, hey," he began softly, "I'm just teasing you, Sarah. You know that, right? No matter how real we are, that's not exactly first-day-of-the-relationship kind of conversation."

"Very funny," Sarah said as her shoulders slumped in relief. That had actually gone about as well as she could have expected. One thing that hadn't occurred to her about this trial thing was that a real boyfriend would be more entitled to ask personal questions, and expect to get real answers. At least he was joking about it. That was a good sign. So now it was time for the next challenge.

"I'm going to get ready for bed."

x-x-x-x-x


	7. The Battle of Hastings

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_A/N: One of the reasons that BrickRoad and I wanted to do this story together is that we were two of the last of the old-timers who were still posting. This chapter is dedicated to one of our mutual favorites. We haven't talked to LeeCan in years. But he has had a large part in both of our growth as writers. You'd have to know him pretty well to get the connection in this chapter. But trust me, there is one. LeeCan, if you ever read this, we're thinking about you._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Battle of Hastings**

x-x-x-x-x

One thing that the scheme to get Chuck and Sarah together meant was that there were now two couples living together for the first time. When Ellie got to her room, her new roommate was already lying in his bed. After all, he had just experienced quite the day. "How did it go?" he asked sleepily.

"About like I figured," Ellie replied with a laugh. "They're both scared to death."

"At least they're both giving it the old college try," Cole said. "You don't realize how hard this is for Agent Walker. It goes exactly opposite of every instinct that she has."

"I know," Ellie said as she headed for the bathroom to get ready for bed. "But this will work. I know it will. The honest truth is that she actually wants this more than he does. She just needs a gentle push or two. Wait until we get to Mexico and we start doing romantic couples stuff. We'll have her so attached to him that it would take the jaws-of-life to pry them apart."

Ellie was feeling pretty good about herself and life in general as she stepped into the shower. The hot water felt heavenly. But that warm glow quickly disappeared when she finally forced herself out of the long shower and looked into her bag. Suddenly she remembered in horror what she had bought to sleep in tonight for Devon. There was no way in the world that she could walk out there wearing that negligee. What would Cole think?

Well, actually that was a really stupid question. She knew full well what he would think. What would any man think? She might as well just walk out there naked and climb into bed with him. It would be saying pretty much the same thing. She knew full well that nothing like that could ever happen. She didn't even want it to happen. She didn't. She was engaged. Devon would be back with her soon enough. The negligee would keep for two weeks. Okay, but why was that tingling in her stomach that had been there off and on all day, back with such a vengeance?

The only thing to do was to try on one of the guys new t-shirts that were fortunately in the same bag. First, she tried Cole's muscle-man style. The problem with that was it was too big. The straps barely covered her chest. That wouldn't do. She might just as well wear the stupid negligee, go climb into bed with him, and get it over with.

Chuck's t-shirt was a little better. It actually came down to her mid-thigh, so in that sense it looked sort of like a nightgown. The only problem was that it didn't hide all that much of her… umm… figure, particularly when she was still a little damp from the shower. The last thing that she wanted to do was have her body send the message to Cole that she was excited. Okay, so maybe she was excited, a little. But did Cole have to know that?

Hopefully, Devon wouldn't ever ask what she wore to bed. The last thing that she wanted to do was to try and deceive Devon. And he would understand about sharing the room with Cole. He would. Devon was the sweetest guy in the world. And this was to help Chuck and Sarah. He would absolutely understand. If fact, he would be the one most excited about the romance of getting them together. But walking out there with Cole in only that t-shirt and plain cotton panties? Hopefully if he asked, she'd be able to tell him that it was dark.

Fortunately, it was fairly dark. There was a little light coming in though the curtains, but not that much. And Cole was lying on his side facing away from her anyway. Perhaps he had anticipated this scenario and was intentionally giving her some privacy. If so, that was sweet. In any case, Ellie decided not to give him a chance to change his mind, so she walked directly to her bed and got under the covers.

"Cole," she said softly. "Are you asleep?"

"No," Cole answered. Then her scent hit him. Lavender. Of all the miserable luck. Why did she have to use lavender shampoo? Could this possibly get any worse? That's all he needed. Perhaps if he just closed his eyes, she would go to sleep.

No such luck.

"I want to apologize for this afternoon in the car," Ellie said softly, her voice just above a whisper. "I wanted to earlier, but we were never alone. I was rude, assuming that you must have played football. That must have sounded pretty awful to you."

Cole tried to just pretend he couldn't hear her. The last thing that he wanted to do was to turn and face this beautiful, amazing woman, smelling like lavender. Hopefully, she would just let it drop and go to sleep.

"Okay," Ellie finally said sadly. "I get it. You're angry. I don't blame you. I'm embarrassed. I'm not a snob, Cole. I know that I might have sounded like one today. I'm very sorry."

Cole groaned to himself. _Can't I just catch a single break tonight?_ But he knew that he couldn't let her go to sleep feeling guilty. So he reluctantly rolled over. "I'm not angry with you, Eleanor," he said. "You really have no need to apologize. I didn't take any offense." Okay, so that part was a white lie. He did notice that she assumed he wasn't all that bright. But still, she wasn't alone there. A lot of people did.

"Thank you," Ellie sighed. "Did you know that I was on the UCLA debate team for a year? I know we are not in Oxford's class but… What was your major?"

Cole looked at her lying there with her head resting on her hand, propped up by her elbow, her face softly framed by her dark hair. This was all he needed. Even in the dark, the sight was simply incredible. She probably didn't even realize that with the soft light coming through the curtains behind her that the t-shirt she was wearing might as well be laying on the floor for all it was hiding. Finally he just had to smile at himself – and the ridiculousness of the situation he found himself in. "History," he said. "My Master's Thesis was about the Battle of Hastings."

"Really," Ellie asked. "May I ask why you choose that topic?"

"Well, Eleanor," Cole replied. "I grew up in Battle, East Sussex. That's where the Battle of Hastings was fought on the 14th of October, 1066. I was always fascinated by it, every since I was a lad. I and my mates used to pretend we were fighting it on the same exact field when we were growing up. It actually has a great deal of historical significance. It was the battle where the Norman army finally took control of England. It was a fierce battle, but the English army had somewhat of the upper hand for quite a while. They were just about poised to claim victory when it happened. The turning point of the battle came when the English king, Harold II was killed. Legend has it that he was shot through the eye by a stray arrow. After the battle, the Norman king claimed Harold's queen, Rebecca as his own. It was said that she was quite fetching. Imagine that, Eleanor. We carry on so much about love and romance, don't we? Imagine being 'claimed' by the man who had just killed your husband. Actually, she eventually bore him two illegitimate sons. One of their sons grew up and became an Admiral in the British Navy. Do you think that Rebecca ever came to accept him as her husband, perhaps even came to love him after a fashion? I often wonder how that battle would have turned if that arrow had been just six inches off and missed him. How would the course of history have changed? Would the British Empire still have happened as it did? And what about Rebecca? Would she still have…" Cole suddenly noticed Ellie smiling at him. "And I'm boring you," he said. "I'm such a dolt when I get to talking on about history. I'm so sorry."

It took Ellie a moment to realize that Cole had stopped talking. "You're not boring me at all," she finally said softly. And the honest truth was she wasn't bored, not in the least. Not that she knew anything about British history, or the Battle of Hastings. It's just that she could just listen to him talk all night, about anything really. He could be reading the phone book and she would still be in a trance. She instinctively knew that she was in serious trouble. This had gone far beyond some innocent flirtation. "Have you always been a history buff?"

"I guess I have," Cole said. "You know what they say, Eleanor. Those who don't learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them."

Ellie was frozen. The simple fact was that she couldn't turn away from his gaze. "Cole," she finally said. "Why are you still calling me Eleanor? That's pretty formal. My friends call me Ellie."

"Ellie is a very pretty name," Cole said. "But with all respects, it belongs to a girl. And you're not a girl, not at all. You're a brilliant, formidable, beautiful, sophisticated woman. You're clearly an Eleanor. So with your permission, that's what I'd like to continue to call you."

_Oh my_. Ellie didn't really know what to say. All she did know was that if she said anything, he would know how completely enthralled she really was. She would sound like a blushing schoolgirl. She actually had to take a moment to calm her breathing. "Thank you," was all she could whisper. "Goodnight, Cole."

What Ellie didn't know was that he already was quite aware of how she was feeling. Of course he was. He was trained to know when a woman wanted him. He was somewhat of an expert at it. But this was the very first time that the knowledge that a beautiful woman wanted him brought him no joy. And the simple fact was… he wanted her right now ten times more than she wanted him. But it just wasn't possible. Sarah was right. This was going to be very complicated. "Goodnight, Eleanor," was all he said.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah stood in the bathroom and sadly looked at her reflection in the mirror as she contemplated the pajamas that Ellie had talked her into buying this morning. She quickly came to the only possible conclusion. They were simply ridiculous. Flannel Pajamas? She hadn't worn anything like this since she was twelve, which was ironic since they made her look like she was sixty. When she bought them, she assumed that she would still be rooming with Ellie tonight. And for that, they would have been perfect. They were very comfortable. But certainly it wasn't what you would wear to bed the first time for your new very real boyfriend, even if you weren't technically trying to seduce him.

And Chuck definitely noticed. "Wow," he said with a grin as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom. "That's umm… a new look for you. You really weren't kidding about the no-sex thing, were you?"

Sarah turned off the light and slipped into bed beside him without comment. Sure, Chuck was just teasing her. She knew that. He was just trying to keep the mood light. But if he knew her at all, he would have realized how sensitive she was about her appearance and how looking good for him was so important to her. It always had been. After a while he would hopefully learn that there were times when he should just keep his big mouth shut – and this was clearly one of those times.

Okay, yes. For their first night together as a real couple, the pajamas were… ridiculous. But did the moron really have to say anything? She already felt bad enough. That was just piling on. So it was with a tad bit more edge in her voice then she intended when she finally rolled over to face him.

"I have something to tell you," Sarah said. "Something is going to happen tomorrow that I need your help with."

Chuck could instantly tell from the tone of her voice that she was being very serious. So he rolled onto his side to face her.

"I've been putting away some money," she said. "That's why we're going to San Diego tomorrow, to get it. The thing is, no one knows about this. Not the CIA, nobody. It's critical that no one finds out. Especially not Cole and Ellie."

"Okay," Chuck said in a confused tone. "But they're going to know that you got the money, right?"

"Of course," Sarah said. "That's not the part they can't know about. When you and I go in that bank tomorrow, I won't be Sarah Walker. I'll be… someone else."

"Who will you be?"

This was the hard part. It wasn't the time to tell Chuck that she had been making plans for them to run if Beckman decided that Chuck needed to be in a bunker. He would freak if he found out that she had already prepared new identities for both of them, that they would become Mr. and Mrs. Charles and Sarah Conner. She had done a lot more than simply faked a couple of new identities to hide from the CIA. She had prepared two new lives with all the skill that her training had provided, complete with social security numbers, a wedding license, college degrees, Utah Driver's Licenses and credit cards. If he saw what was in that safety deposit box he would immediately start asking questions. He would ask her things that she couldn't answer for him yet, mostly because she hadn't totally thought through all of the issues herself.

For one thing, it sort of shot the idea of Ellie's two week trial togetherness in the head. The very real truth was… under the right circumstances she had clearly already decided she was willing to make a life long commitment to him. That was the bare minimum of what running from the CIA would require. There would be absolutely no going back from that. Even what she had done so far could be considered treason should it be discovered. At the very least it would get her reassigned to a mission as far away from Chuck Bartowski as humanly possible. What was more likely was that she would be summarily drummed out of the agency. After all, now that Langston Graham was dead, there was no shortage of people in the CIA who would love to see his ex wild card enforcer, Sarah Walker, fall. If they really wanted to make an example of her, prison was even an outside possibility.

And that's why it was so critical that Cole not find out. It was the same reason that Casey would never know. They were agents. Even if Sarah could ever trust them to that extent, and she surely didn't yet, it wasn't fair to put them in that spot. They themselves would be committing treason by simply keeping her secret. It was far better that they didn't know. They both, and especially Casey, would be under enough of a microscope after she ran with Chuck as it was.

It was a completely different situation with Ellie. That wasn't a trust issue at all. But Ellie would ask many of the same questions that Chuck would. And she simply wasn't ready to face that. Besides, the CIA was not above putting pressure on loved ones if they thought they knew something. And to find the intersect, Sarah knew that there would be no limit to what they would be willing to do. Ellie would be much safer if she simply didn't know anything.

An entirely separate issue was where she got the money in the first place. She knew that Chuck wouldn't be comfortable knowing that their escape money came from such an unsavory source. She wasn't proud of it either. Oh, she knew agents did this sort of thing all the time. And there was no victim here, taking that money was actually somewhat of a public service. After all, it was better that she had it than the mob. Still, it was something that she would never have done just for herself. But for Chuck… that was another matter. Someday he was sure to wonder why she had so much money. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask specifics and she would never have to tell him.

"Chuck," she said softly. "I know that you have a lot of questions - honest, legitimate questions that you have every right to ask. I'm just not ready to answer them right now. I will someday, hopefully soon. I know that's not very fair. I feel horrible about starting our real relationship with more secrets. But for right now I need you to trust me."

Sarah just looked at Chuck lying there starring at her in the dark. She was having a hard time blinking the tears out of her eyes. She knew damn well what he was thinking. That was pretty obvious, because it was exactly what she would have been thinking in that same situation. She was preparing a new identity in order to leave him. He'd wake up one morning and she'd simply be gone, probably to rejoin Bryce. Or maybe to run off with someone like Cole. Or possibly just to start a new life on her own.

And the worst part was that he'd never know which. He'd have no way to possibly begin to look for her. He'd always wonder if she was alive. Or captured and being tortured. Or maybe with someone else, cuddling in bed and laughing at the poor gullible nerd. All he'd be able to do was lie in his bed at night alone and imagine the worst. Of course that's what he was thinking. What else could he possibly think? She knew that he was insecure… why wouldn't he be? And here she was rubbing salt in that open insecurity wound. More than that, by even letting him think those dark thoughts, she was crushing him… again. What kind of person did that to someone they claimed to love?

Then Chuck did it. He burst that apparently silly thought like a soap bubble. "You know that I trust you," he said. "You never have to question that. Whoever you're going to be tomorrow, know one thing. Not only do I trust her with my life, I'm completely, head over heels crazy about her."

Okay, so now Sarah was really having trouble blinking away the tears. Wow. Was that what she needed to hear or what? She had been treating him so unfairly, even cruelly, yet he always came back for more. Why should she be surprised now? After all, that was the guy she loved lying there flashing her that adorable smile. How did he always know what to say?

So now Sarah knew that it was time for him to hear something that he needed to hear. And normally she would have been very hesitant to talk about her feelings. But for some strange reason, it felt… different tonight.

"You haven't gotten much from this trial togetherness so far, have you?" she asked. "I mean, I'm not proving to be much of a real girlfriend. No sex, keeping the most basic of secrets from you, and now, to add insult to injury, these ridiculous pajamas. So here's a little something that I hope helps. It may not be much, but it's all I have right now. I'm crazy about you too, Chuck. I have been for a long time. I'm so sorry that I've made you question that."

"Now see," Chuck said as he reached under the covers and grabbed her hand. "That's more than enough for me. As long as that's true I can face anything."

They just stayed there for a long moment facing each other and holding hands. Neither of them knew what else to do. Besides, it felt pretty great just to hold hands… and finally be open about how they felt. "I'm sorry that I made fun of your pajamas," Chuck finally said sleepily. "They're really pretty sexy."

Sarah passed for a moment to yawn. "Do you really think so?" she asked skeptically.

"No," Chuck said with a short laugh. "Not really. Not the pajamas anyway. But you're inside them. You'd be sexy wearing anything. Besides, it just seemed like the thing for a real boyfriend to say."

Sarah was too sleepy to laugh, but she did anyway. He could always make her laugh. So she let go of his hand and reached over and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "If you think my pajamas are bad," she said. "Wait until you see what Ellie bought to sleep in. I'll bet she is regretting her choice right about now a lot more than I am."

"I'm sure that I don't even want to think about that," Chuck said while trying to suppress a yawn. "Well, goodnight, umm… umm..."

"It's still going to be Sarah," she said softly. "No matter who I am, I'll always be Sarah, your Sarah."

"Okay. That's good to know. Well, goodnight, my Sarah."

Sarah couldn't help the glowing smile. How incredibly sappy was that exchange? She hated sappy. Usually something that saccharine would have elicited a well deserved groan… followed by her index finger shoved down her throat. But tonight, it sounded… well, pretty darn romantic. She still had serious doubts that this together thing could work. But Chuck was right. Why even worry about that right now? Just enjoy the next two weeks and then see where they were. So she reached under the covers and softly grabbed his hand again.

"Goodnight Chuck."

x-x-x-x-x


	8. Mister Conner

_Okay, quite a author's note coming._

_First, thanks to ATCDave. Not only for the nice write-up in the Chuck This blog, but for also teaching me how to sneak into Mexico in a private plane. It might come in handy someday should a career change become necessary, lol._

_But mostly, this is a sad day. Brickroad left for her life adventure today. And while I'm excited for her chance to see the world, I'm going to really miss her. We've been friends for a long time. And if you're ever depressed, about anything really, talking to her is a sure fire way to get on the path to feeling better. We haven't disagreed about much over the years, and even when we think we do, we eventually usually discover that we were saying the same things in different ways. Not to say that we haven't had our battles, we have, lol. Most of our real disagreements have come over the characters. Brickroad sees the good in everybody. I have a temptation to sometimes make characters like Bryce or Beckman, or Cole a villain. She won't hear of that. In a couple of chapters there will be a conversation between Sarah and Ellie that is almost word for word a conversation between her and I._

_It's possible that her circumstance might allow for more free time than she thinks and maybe working on our sequel could possibly still be a joint effort. For right now, I'm sadly resigned to push forward on my own. So if I do it, it will probably look and feel more like a BillAtWork story than this one does. That means more adventure (and sex, lol). But it also means less interpersonal good stuff._

_But not to worry, this story is written._

_Anyway, we still don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

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"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**Mister Conner**

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie Bartowski lay in bed, flat on her back, trying desperately to catch her breath without drawing attention to herself. The sun was just starting to peak through the curtains, not that she was really noticed the beginnings of the day. Her thoughts were currently other places other than how nice the weather was going to be this day. All she wanted to do was to get her heart rate back down to something approaching semi-normal and to process her confused thoughts.

It had been easily the most intense dream of her life. And Ellie had taken enough Physiology courses in Medical School to realize that dreaming about making love with Cole was telling her something. Hell, she didn't have to go to college to tell her that her subconscious was screaming at her, especially given how incredibly vivid, erotic, and passionate it was.

Ellie also knew enough to realize that she couldn't just rationalize this away. There was no way to fool herself about that dream. She just used the term 'making love' to herself, but it wasn't that at all. This was pure physical lust her mind had just presented her with, nothing more. Oh, she liked Cole, quite a lot actually. She even admired him, as much as she knew him anyway. But she didn't love him, not even close. That wasn't the attraction. There was just something magnetic about him that drew her to him, that made her, as much as she hated to admit it, lose control.

That was the part that scared her, more like terrified her. Ellie Bartowski didn't lose control . . . ever. It wasn't in her nature. For one thing, she couldn't afford the luxury. She learned early on that there was no way for a teenager to raise a little brother and put herself through Medical School without being completely focused. She had a plan for her life – and up till now she had executed that plan flawlessly. This wasn't the time to deviate. She had finished Medical School and her residency, she was going to marry Devon in the spring, she was going to complete her Neurological Specialty program, and they were going to wait for two years and then have their first child, hopefully a girl. Then a year later, they would have a second child, hopefully a boy this time. Her life was mapped out. That's what it always had been. There was certainly no room in that roadmap for a fling with someone like Cole Barker, no matter how exciting it might be.

Then there was that. What did this say about her feelings for Devon? She knew that she loved Devon. That wasn't in question. It was even more than that. Saying the words 'in love' seemed trite somehow. He was her future. He was the father of her children, the one who she would grow old with. She could never betray him. The last thing that she would ever want was to hurt Devon in some way. And she could honestly say that she had absolutely never had any sexual desire for another man almost from the first day she and Devon had met. But she had to face reality – as of this morning that was no longer true.

Fortunately after thinking about it for a couple of minutes, she began to settle down a little. She hadn't cheated on Devon. In fact, she hadn't done anything wrong at all. She noticed that another man was attractive. Devon certainly noticed other women, probably. Didn't all men? There was simply an undeniable fact here. She was going to be rooming with this pretty amazing man for the next two weeks, and she could either make it enjoyable or miserable. So what was wrong with a little harmless flirting?

The sun had now fully risen and the room was bathed in bright light. Ellie sighed as she tried to think of something else to calm herself and looked around the room for the first time. She quickly realized what a dump it really was. Hopefully, they could find a nicer place tonight. She also looked down and quickly realized that Chuck's t-shirt, which was never that modest, simply disappeared when it became wet. Suddenly the significance of what a wet t-shirt contest was became clear. Now was clearly the time to make a dive for the bathroom before Cole woke… and she was participating in her own contest.

But no matter how hard she tried not to think about it, there were some questions that Ellie was afraid to answer, even to her stupid subconscious. Why did she enjoy that dream so much? Why was she lying there in that bed with sweat soaking her shirt? And why was she so positive that the real thing would be every bit as good as the dream?

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah sat in the bank manager's office waiting for her to return with Sarah's safety deposit box. It had been a nice morning so far. For one thing, they'd woken up still holding hands. For anyone else, that would just sound juvenile, but for Chuck and Sarah at this point in time, it was a pretty darn romantic step forward. The morning itself was actually fairly routine. After all, they had spent the night together enough times now that getting ready for the day wasn't all that awkward. It was, however, a little different this time, thanks to their new status. They shared the bathroom brushing their teeth like a real couple.

It was fairly ironic that they were presently in a bank, because, after giving every last bit of their cash to Cole and Ellie to buy ammo, they didn't have two dimes to rub together between them.

The bank manager plainly knew Sarah by sight and insisted on waiting on her personally. That alone surprised Chuck. Clearly Sarah had been here a time or two. She also picked up on the chemistry between Chuck and Sarah right away.

"Mrs. Conner," she said with a smile as she came in carrying a box, "I'll go see to your cash withdrawal. I understand that you also want to cancel the deposit box rental. I do hope there isn't a problem. You're a very important customer to us."

"No," Sarah said with what Chuck could tell was her fake pleasant smile, "there is no problem, not at all. I'm just moving out of state. I'll keep our account open. We'll just access it remotely from another branch."

"Mr. Conner," the manager said as she turned her brightest customer service smile towards Chuck and reached out a hand, "it's so nice to finally get to meet you."

Chuck didn't realize at first that she was talking to him. "Umm," he stammered awkwardly, lifting himself out of his chair a little to shake her hand. "Thanks."

The manager took one glance at the awkward looks Chuck and Sarah were giving each other and quickly realized that she had made a huge mistake. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I just assumed . . . I mean, you have a joint account." Knowing that she was stepping further into it, she did the only thing she could do – retreat. "I'll go get your cash," she said as she walked out of the office like she had been shot out of a cannon.

Sarah openly winced at Chuck's look of shock, but forced a neutral expression onto her face.

"Mr. Conner," he asked, "there's a Mr. Conner? Is that me?"

What a bad break. Why did that stupid manager have to say it was a joint account? Now Sarah didn't know what to say. After the nice night and morning they'd had, the last thing she wanted to do was spoil the good mood. But she knew full well if she told him the truth, it would simply start the barrage of a thousand questions. On the other hand, if she said no, he would immediately assume that someone else was Mr. Conner. So she did the only thing that she could do under the circumstances. She deflected the question.

"Remember our talk last night?" Sarah asked. "This is the part where I need you to trust me."

Chuck's jaw noticeably tightened, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded.

"Thank you, Chuck," Sarah said. "Remember, you're the only person who knows anything about this. It's absolutely critical that nobody ever hears the name Sarah Conner, especially not Cole or Casey. I'll probably tell Ellie something . . . someday, but not any time soon. I'll need your help in keeping this from them."

"I understand," Chuck sighed, avoiding her gaze. "Of course I won't say anything, and I'll help in any way that I can. But I have to be honest with you, Sarah. You know I trust you, and you know I'm trying to work on my jealousy issues, but sometimes I need a little help. Could you just . . ." He pursed his lips, shook his head a little in frustration. "Could you please just tell me who he is? And if you can't, because I get that you can't tell me a lot, could you please at least tell me, is it Bryce?"

Sarah allowed her shoulders to noticeably slump, but fought against the urge to bury her face in her hands. This was the worst thing that could have happened this morning. It was pretty obvious that, no matter how hard Chuck tried to work on his jealousy, it was always going to be there, an inch below the surface. Given the circumstances, though, it was hard to fault him for that. He'd had years of coming in second to Bryce, and she wasn't exactly open enough to give him much to reassure him. So now, not only was he feeling jealous for no reason, here he was forced to feel guilty about being jealous. The pain and doubt in his voice was heartbreaking.

"It's okay, Chuck," Sarah said with a sigh. "I understand. But if you're jealous, then you're jealous. That's a perfectly reasonable reaction for a boyfriend in this situation. But I just want you to understand that I can't tell you everything right now, and that I feel horrible about that. The last thing I want to do is keep secrets from you." She paused, clenched and released her fist. "This is a spy thing. I swear I'll tell you everything when the time is right."

Chuck clearly was not happy, but, after a long, tense silence, he finally nodded again.

Sarah was desperate to get him over this. She just didn't know how to do it. If only Ellie were here to help her out.

"Chuck, please," she said pleadingly, "this is not what you're thinking at all. You have absolutely no reason to be jealous. When you learn the truth, you will completely understand why there has to be a Mr. Conner and why I couldn't tell you. I promise." Her lips twitched as she watched his reaction, then she added, "That's all I feel comfortable saying right now, but I hope it helped."

Sarah could see the corners of Chuck's mouth gradually drift north until he was finally beaming his classic smile. "It did, a little," he said. "Honestly, I'm still jealous, but I'm going to set it aside. Do you know what would help even more? A brief but intense make out session."

At first she assumed Chuck was joking. The bank manager already obviously thought that Sarah Conner was a _Desperate Housewife's_ style slut cheating on her husband. The last thing that she wanted was to give her imagination any more ammunition. So she looked at him skeptically. "This isn't the time for that," she said. "We're on a mission. How would that help anyway?"

Chuck's grin disappeared as quickly as it had come in the first place. He slumped back in his chair, shrugged, and said quietly, "Couldn't hurt, right? It was just a thought." He paused for a long moment, and his voice was heavy with sadness when he finally asked, "Our entire life is always going to be a mission, isn't it?"

That was the point when Sarah realized that Chuck was being serious, and she had just hurt his feelings yet again. What would it have hurt to quickly kiss him a little? It would have been cute, and fun. The simple truth was that she would have enjoyed it more than he would.

She was just so tired of hurting him. He was assuming that she had just shot him down. And from his point of view, she had. Now he was probably certain that Mr. Conner was Bryce. After she'd made no attempt to deny it, why wouldn't he be? What else could he think? It might be too late for any kissing but that at least was something she could probably fix.

"Chuck," she sighed, "look, I'm sorry. I . . ."

Before she could get any further in her explanation, before she could finish telling him that Mr. Connor definitely was not Bryce Larkin, the bank manager came through the door with their cash.

x-x-x-x-x

Sitting in the car just down the street from the gun store, Ellie turned to Cole to fix him with a skeptical gaze. "You want me to go in and buy bullets?" she asked. "Why me?"

"To buy this ordinance in this particular state requires a picture ID," he said. "It's classified as assault weapon ammunition. They send a report of all sales to the state. We obviously don't want them sending in my name. Fulcrum would know that we were here."

"But I don't have my ID with me either," Ellie said. "So how can I buy them?"

"You couldn't use it even if you did have it," Cole said, "for the very same reason. Look, Eleanor, these guys have a lot of latitude with these rules if they want to. They use these shells themselves . . . so if a box or two disappears, they can just claim that they used it themselves in target practice. Normally I would just slip them an additional fifty and we'd be on our way. But we currently don't have the extra money. I could always go in and try and give them a sob story." He tightened his jaw and said, "But it occurs to me that you would have an easier time."

"Why is that?"

"Because, Eleanor," he said, "they're men."

Ellie smiled for the first time. "Cole," she said, "you want me to go in there and flirt with them, don't you?"

It was the first time that she had seen Cole anything but completely confident. Far from it, he was actually rather noticeably uncomfortable.

"I'm not necessarily saying _flirt_," he said as he handed her a sheet of paper with the ammunition that he wanted written on it. "But okay, if you were to go in there and tell them that your stupid boyfriend asked you to buy this for him, and when they asked you for your ID you told them that you left it home, they might resist at first. But if you were to smile at them and ask them to make an exception, I'll bet they would."

Ellie took full note of Cole's mood. It actually made her happy. For the first time in the three days that she had known him she felt like she was controlling the conversation. Her smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "You do, do you?"

Any momentary hesitancy was now quickly gone. "Yes, Eleanor," he said with his own smile, "I do. Once they remembered what you asked them, that is. If you're at all uncomfortable with this, I understand."

Ellie, already enjoying herself, looked forward to taking a bigger role in this group. She was the tagalong, the one who hadn't been meant to be here. So far she was useful for the few medical problems they'd had, but she wanted a more important, more exciting part. "No," she said quickly, "I'll do it. How do I look? Should I do anything to, umm . . . prepare myself?"

"Well," Cole said thoughtfully, "you're certainly a vision. You could unbutton one more button on your blouse if you wouldn't mind. Give the boys a little view to take their minds off things and . . . a little more incentive to cooperate."

"Do you really think that will help?" she asked with a sly smile as she looked him directly in the eye and slowly and methodically undid a button. She knew that she was now venturing into uncharted territory. Not with any gun store clerk, with Cole. She was now as overtly flirting with him as she had ever flirted with anyone in her whole life. She noticed with a smirk that he was studiously averting his eyes.

"How's that?" she asked softly. "Is that enough?"

x-x-x-x-x

They were finally, at long last, in Cancun. The statement alone had its fair share of irony, because it was only late afternoon, and Ellie had always assumed that they would drive and it would take all day. That is until Sarah pointed out that it was over three thousand miles away and would take three full days of driving, much of it on two lane winding roads in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Besides, Sarah didn't want to chance crossing the border or driving that far in the car that Fulcrum knew about, and possibly even had the license plate of. That also ruled out taking any commercial flights. Ellie was starting to learn that when Sarah Walker didn't want to take chances, she went full bore. So she dispatched Cole to park the car in the train station long-term lot. That would give Fulcrum something to think about if they ever found it. He then met them at the small airfield just outside the city where Sarah chartered a pilot to fly them to Houston.

That part went fairly smoothly. Ellie had never flown in that small of a plane before, but it was a nice, roomy six-seat model. The pilot was clearly experienced. Once they got to Houston, Sarah had the pilot land at a small airstrip a few miles out of town. Then, they took two separate taxis to the main airport, where Sarah rented an even smaller, four-seat plane.

That's where things began to get a little dicey for Ellie. For one thing, even though she and Cole waited outside, Sarah was clearly flirting with the man in charge of renting the planes. Ellie couldn't hear what she was saying through the window, but the look on Chuck's face showed that he wasn't at all happy. All he would say afterward was that she negotiated more favorable terms for renting the plane.

Ellie was torn. Of course she trusted Sarah. She absolutely did. But before today she hadn't been aware that she was a pilot, or that the route from Houston to Cancun was over the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, well out of sight of any land, or that she would be flying so low over the water for a good portion of the trip to avoid radar that Cole teased her about going fishing, or that they would be flying directly through a thunderstorm. Yes, Sarah flew around it as much as she could, but they were still bouncing around the sky there for a while.

Of course, the other issue was Cole. She was still more than a little freaked out about last night's dream, so much so that she was unsure of what to do. Oh, he'd been completely right about the gun store. They'd fallen over themselves giving her the box of bullets that she'd asked for. Afterwards, she hadn't bothered to button up her shirt again. It wasn't her normal look, but she had to admit that it was exciting whenever she noticed Cole looking in her direction. Maybe a little too exciting.

Given her current mood, the last thing that she wanted was to have to ride in the back seat of a tiny plane pressed up against him for four hours. Even if it was definitely within her power to rationalize their proximity, the events of the past few days left her confused and her current situation wasn't helping. For one thing, whoever called that plane a four-seat model surely had a sense of humor. She was more or less forced to snuggle with him for the entire four hour flight, especially during the part where she was hanging on for dear life anyway. Not that hanging onto Cole Barker for dear life could be considered torture.

Chuck and Sarah seemed a little tenser than usual as well, enough to make her wonder if something untoward had happened at the bank. They weren't exactly fighting, but something was clearly off. She made a mental note to ask Sarah about it as soon as she could get her alone. She wanted to tell her about the dream anyway.

Naturally, all of that was completely driven out of Ellie's head when they finally got to the resort. It was beyond fabulous. The rooms that Sarah had somehow acquired for them were on the whitest beach that she had ever seen. 'Room' didn't come close to describing their bungalows, designed to look like thatched huts. Once you were inside, though, any resemblance to a hut ended. It was a large, luxury room, fully furnished with all the usual amenities. The bathroom was huge and included a built in hot tub with enough room for two. Outside, the two suites were connected by a shared, shaded breakfast veranda on a small terrace overlooking the beach. A half dozen or so steps angled through a small blooming rose garden not only afforded them some privacy but gave them instant access to the beach. With the late afternoon sun shining brightly off the crystal blue water, it was truly a postcard-worthy scene.

"Oh, my God," Ellie breathed as she stepped out onto the veranda and shaded her eyes to look out over the busy beach replete with a throng of tourists playing in the blue water. "Sarah, this is amazing. This is the nicest resort I've ever seen. It's something out of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Just how much money did you two steal from that bank this morning anyway?"

Sarah was still concerned about Chuck, who was most decidedly not over this morning's experience at the bank. Having to witness her sweet talk the clerk out of the normal three day waiting period for renting the plane only served to add fuel to his fire. Fortunately he wasn't there during the short check out flight that he made her take with him. Naturally, 'check out' had a dual meaning. Ostensibly it was to prove that she could handle the twin engine plane and IFR. But he also spent a fair amount of time checking her out. At least that meant that Chuck didn't have to witness the most blatant part of his suggestive innuendo. Did men really think that making you want to hurl was effective as a pick-up line in any way?

But the worst of all was how blatantly that custom official had propositioned her. At least he wasn't suggestive. He was very descriptive in telling her what he wanted and how and where he wanted it. She knew going in that a bribe would be required. After all, that was pretty standard procedure in this part of the world. But this guy was something else. He knew that he had her somewhat over a barrel. She and Cole had guns with no way to prove that they were authorized to carry them. Not only that, Ellie had a bag full of drugs and medical equipment with no way to prove that she was a doctor. If he really wanted too, he could have caused some real trouble. Fortunately, she had a lot of cash with her and was finally able to waive enough of it in his face that he was willing to forego the session in the back room he was insisting on. Even more fortunately, the conversation happened in Spanish, so hopefully Chuck didn't understand how brazenly descriptive the jerk was being. Not only that, he still looked a little green from flying through the turbulence of that thunderstorm. Okay, so maybe that last part was a little cute.

Even with his bad humor weighing on her mind, she couldn't help but grin at Ellie's exuberance. Of course she wasn't going to mention that Charles and Sarah Conner's bank account currently contained a little over three million dollars.

"Don't worry about money," she said. "This is on the agency. We're under cover as well-to-do tourists enjoying our vacation. Your room key is a resort wide credit card. Anything that you want, just charge it to the room."

Ellie was obviously eager to play her part. "Well, Miss Well-to-do," she teased, "one thing is for sure. That beach is calling our names. You and I are going to have to go buy new swim suits. I noticed that the resort has a shop. Come on, the guys can rustle us up some dinner while we're gone. But first, let's find a place to get drinks."

x-x-x-x-x

"Is everything okay with you and Chuck?" Ellie asked curiously before taking a sip of her margarita.

Sarah let out a heavy sigh and folded her arms over the bar counter. "I'm just . . . I'm not great at this girlfriend stuff."

Sensing that there was more to come but that her friend was hesitant to continue, Ellie said, "Come on. Tell me about it. Sometimes you just need to talk things out."

"That's the thing," Sarah frowned, "I'm not a talker. Chuck, he needs a lot of reassurance, but I'm used to just keeping my feelings to myself. That's not a good combination."

Ellie sensed that there was more to this than Sarah was letting on, something specific rather than this generalization. Remembering her observations on the plane earlier, she asked, "Did something happen at the bank this morning?"

"Yeah, something happened," Sarah confirmed, "something I didn't intend for him to find out this soon. He got upset when I couldn't explain everything to him right there, and when I asked how I could fix it, he said a make-out session." She lifted her gaze to her friend's, who nodded knowingly.

"And you thought he was joking, didn't you?"

Sarah nodded forlornly. "We were right in the middle of getting the money. I compartmentalize. I can't think about that when there's a mission to focus on." After a pause, she continued haltingly, "It didn't help that we were having an argument about my ex."

"Oh, man," Ellie began with a grin, "that's every boyfriend's favorite topic." Her grin faded quickly when she caught Sarah's expression. Then she remembered Sarah's concussion from last fall, and all the damn flowers. "Wait, the ex from the hospital?" she asked in a low voice. "That's over, right?"

"Of course it is," Sarah replied quickly, offended by the question. "Why would you even ask me that?"

"Come on, Sarah, I didn't mean it like that. But breakups can be sticky, and . . ." She paused, not wanting her to hear this as an accusation. But Sarah was a reticent girl, and Ellie had the sense that her personality was keeping her from saying everything. "He did send an awful lot of flowers. Does _he_ know that it's over?"

"It's over, and the truth is that there was never that much to _be_ over." With a frown, Sarah continued, "He knows that. I've told him anyways, but Bryce sort of hears what he wants to hear sometimes."

"Most men do," Ellie responded with a relieved laugh. Bryce was an unusual name though, and she remembered how dejected Chuck got whenever this mysterious ex showed up. "Wait, Bryce . . .? Oh, no," she breathed, a hand covering her mouth. "Please don't tell me . . ."

Sarah, her face reddening, let out a sigh and kept her eyes on her drink.

"Oh, sweetie," Ellie said, "really? Bryce Larkin? The guy who slept with my brother's ex _and_ got him kicked out of Stanford?"

"Ellie . . ." Sarah groaned, a hand against her forehead, "it's not what you think, really. It's compli-"

"I swear to God, if you tell me it's 'complicated' again, if those words come out of your mouth, I will scream. I don't care who hears me or thinks that you've stolen my boyfriend or something ridiculous like that." She really wasn't unhappy. It was a huge step forward to get Sarah actually talking about these important issues. This was definitely something that could be dealt with, if only she could keep Sarah talking. "I keep trying to tell you," she continued, "it's not complicated at all. You're just making it complicated."

Sarah made a show of stirring her drink, if only for the excuse to avoid Ellie's gaze. She hated for her friend to be disappointed in her, and this was not how she should have to find out. "What I had with Bryce, it was nothing. What I have with Chuck . . . God, I never thought I'd feel like this."

Ellie reached out a hand to her friend. "I get it. We've all had guys like that, the guys we have fun with before we find that one who changes our whole notion of love." She quirked a smile. "Wanna talk about it?"

Sarah took a long sip of her drink and then finally looked at Ellie. Haltingly, she said, "I've already told you what it's like to be a spy. Bryce was my partner. When you work together with someone like that, you get put in very intimate situations. It's natural to feel close, natural to need a little warmth to banish the loneliness." She paused, struggling for the words. "I was a _spy_, Ellie. I didn't need someone to buy me roses and cook me dinner. I needed someone to watch my back and grab me an extra clip. Bryce was a great partner, but, honestly, it wasn't until Chuck that I even understood what it is to be loved. I still don't feel worthy of that."

Ellie almost wanted to laugh at the preposterous idea of Sarah not feeling worthy of Chuck. She could even count the number of times that Chuck had confided the same thing. "I think," she began slowly, "that I'm starting to see the problem."

"You are?"

"Yeah, neither of you has any confidence! Look at you. You've spent years thinking you're not good enough for a real relationship. And Chuck, well, can you blame him for being insecure? He's not exactly the dashing hero that everyone expects a woman like you to be with."

"I thought I had a type, Ellie, but Chuck's gone and shattered that. I don't love him because he's some alpha male." A tiny smile tugged at her lips as she said, "I love him because he's the sweetest man I've ever known. I . . . like myself better when I'm with him. It's like he can see right through me, and I'm completely okay with that. Besides, he's just as good looking in his own way as those guys you're talking about. Adorable, really."

"I'm glad you think so," Ellie smiled. "I do, too. But maybe we're biased. After all, we're the two women who love him."

Relieved that Ellie wasn't angry, Sarah said, "That we are. But how do I convince him?"

Instead of answering her question, Ellie asked one of her own. "Tell me something, sweetie. Where do you see yourself in ten years?" Off Sarah's puzzled look, she continued, "Because let me tell you what I see. I see you and Chuck trying to figure out where to send your little girl to school. So, Sarah, am I wrong?"

Sarah regarded Ellie warily for a moment before saying, "Yes, you're most definitely wrong." Then she smiled. "Because we're going to have a boy first, with his dad's curls. And in ten years, I'm thinking he'll be going into second grade."

Grinning, Ellie playfully bumped shoulders with Sarah. "I know this whole talking about your feelings thing is tough for you," she laughed, "but if you would just tell Chuck _that_, it'd be like someone turned on a light switch. You'd never have to worry about him being jealous again, at least not like this."

"Ellie," Sarah sighed, a bit amused in spite of her situation, "I'm just not good at this girlfriend stuff. Chuck and I don't mesh like that. He always needs reassurance, and I'm so . . . uncomfortable when I try to talk about my feelings. It's easier with you."

Ellie, smiling, put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her friend close. "He's not asking you to be perfect, Sarah. He just wants you to be you. But a relationship means that you both have to work at it, that you both have to take risks, you know? For one thing, it'll make you feel better. And for another -"

"He deserves it," Sarah finished, taking a long sip of her margarita. "So how do I fix this?"

"Sometimes a little apology goes a long way."

Sarah nodded, frowning and spinning her glass contemplatively. After a moment, she looked up and asked, "So what about you and Cole? How's that going?"

Ellie felt a wave of shame rush over her. Here she was trying to give Sarah life advice when she couldn't even take her own words to heart. She was a coward. Even worse, she was a hypocrite. How could she presume to talk to Sarah about risk-taking when the biggest risk she took was trusting Devon enough to drink one of his foul-tasting power shakes, when she'd spent her whole life hiding behind responsibility?

"Is everything all right?" asked Sarah, seeing the doctor's discomfort. "Cole's being a gentleman, isn't he? If he's done anything that made you uncomfortable, just tell me and I'll talk to him."

Ellie smiled at the idea of Sarah 'talking' to Cole. She was sure that would be more than just a simple dressing-down. "No," she shook her head, "he's been great. He understands when I need someone to talk to about all this."

"Oh, Ellie, I'm sorry. You know you can talk to me."

"Of course," she smiled, "but you have lots of other, more important things to deal with."

"Not more important than friends," Sarah assured her.

"Still," Ellie shrugged, "it's just . . . this whole thing has got me thinking, maybe too much, and I've come to realize that I have no right to be giving you life advice, Sarah."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked. "You're my best friend, Ellie, and I need you."

"Thanks," Ellie replied with a slight smile. "The truth, though, is that I keep telling you to take risks for Chuck, but I've never taken a risk in my life."

"Ellie, that's not true. Look at all that you've accomplished. You can't tell me that you put yourself through med school, and Chuck through college, that you built the family you have today, without a little risk taking."

"I planned my life out. When our dad left, I knew I had to step up, that I couldn't afford to make mistakes. So I made a plan, a life map, and I've never strayed from it."

"That doesn't sound like such a bad thing," Sarah smiled.

"But the thing is," Ellie pressed, "I don't know what it's like to step outside of that. I have no idea what it feels like to just let go."

"Remember what you told me? We may have been forced out of Burbank by bad circumstances, but we should make the most of our time away. We'll turn it into a vacation for ourselves. How does that sound?"

A smile grew on Ellie's lips. "I think you've got a head start on me."

"Yeah, well," Sarah laughed softly, "I need it, don't I? I'm a slow learner when it comes to relationships, so I need all the time I can get."

x-x-x-x-x

Naturally, it took Chuck and Cole much less time to buy bathing suits than the girls. In fact, they both had their purchases in hand before Sarah and Ellie had even entered the lady's boutique. So while the ladies were shopping, Cole asked at the desk about the best place to get a drink. The clerk pointed them to the bar that was on the beach. He told them at night it was quite the couple's hotspot, but was a lot quieter during the day. Indeed, when they arrived, the only other people there seemed to be those desiring a bit of shade or a quiet moment away from all of the activity on the beach. Only a few tables were even occupied, which meant they got their drinks quickly.

"How are you and Sarah getting along?" Cole asked. "Is it really going as well as it looks from the outside?"

Chuck frowned thoughtfully. Sarah's signals today had been a little mixed at best. He was still reeling from the possibility that Sarah had an entire life locked away in a safety deposit box, a life she was planning on sharing with Bryce Larkin. That hurt more than he cared to admit, but he also trusted her. She wasn't the type of person to ask for trust when there wasn't a good reason behind it.

"It's been going . . . okay," Chuck said, unsure of how to answer. "She's really trying. You have to appreciate the effort."

"One thing that's been bothering me, mate," Cole said as he stirred his drink. "You should have told me that you and Sarah had something going when I first asked. I never would have pursued her so hard. So why didn't you?"

"The honest truth?" Chuck asked.

"Of course," Cole replied with a nod.

"Well, the truth is that, at that point, I wasn't sure if we did have something going," Chuck sighed. "I'm still not sure what that something is."

Cole just laughed softly. "I know," he said. "She's quite the enigma, isn't she? Don't be too hard on her. I don't think you have a good understanding of how foreign this is for her." He smiled. "You're right about one thing though. She's really trying. Whatever it is, I'm sure that you'll figure it out straight away, and that there are a whole line of men wishing they were in your shoes."

"Is that why you went after her?" Chuck asked. "I mean, if this is awkward, we can change the subject."

Cole grinned. "It's not awkward for me," he said. "After all, it's your lady that we're talking about. But if you're really interested, I'll tell you."

Chuck rested his arms on the table and said, "I really am."

"A spy's life gets lonely," Cole said. "Sometimes it's nice to just have someone to spend the night with. And Agent Walker, she seemed like a kindred soul to me."

"So, it wasn't just a notch on the bed post sort of thing?" Chuck asked, uncertain about whether that made it better or worse. If it were true, it gave him more faith in Cole as a friend. But if it weren't, then it meant there was more to Cole's pursuit of Sarah than he was letting on.

"Maybe a little," Cole told him with a crooked smile. "I misjudged her though. She wasn't damaged because of some past relationship. She was just hurting because of the weird limbo you two had been thrown in. She was afraid to love you, but afraid to let you go. Classic spy dilemma."

Chuck pursed his lips as he took it all in. "But you backed off once you realized that?"

"I'm not a complete jerk," Cole chuckled. More seriously, he said, "I'm not like you, Chuck. I'm not looking to fall in love . . . with anybody, and I've never pretended that I was. Honestly, I apologize for not backing off sooner, but Sarah keeps things close to her chest. It took me a long time to figure out the real reason she was rejecting me."

"That must have been tough. It doesn't seem like you get turned down that often."

Cole laughed. "You'd be surprised, although, yes, my percentage is above 500, I would say. For what it's worth, though, I'm glad she shot me down, even if I didn't think so at the time. Maybe it'll allow the two of us to become better friends."

"I'd like that," Chuck said with a grin.

They were interrupted as the waitress brought two drinks and set then down on the table. "Compliments of the ladies by the dance floor," she said.

Chuck turned to where she was indicating, only to see two women in bikinis waving. He turned back around in horror. "Oh my God," he said, "this is horrible. What do we do?"

"Relax, mate," Cole said as he smiled and raised his drink in the women's direction. "We don't do anything. They are going to wait for a minute to see if we invite them over. If we don't, they'll quickly move on."

"Oh my God," Chuck repeated nervously. "Not the first day. If Sarah finds out about this . . . I'm so dead."

Cole just laughed. "Come on, Chuckster," he said calmly, "if you had a dollar for every time Agent Walker has had someone send her a drink in a bar, you could buy this resort. Relax. You haven't done anything wrong. And I suspect based upon your current mood that it's pretty damned unlikely that you're about to. Tell Sarah all about it. She'll think it cute. It might even earn you some points with her." He paused to regard Chuck with mild amusement. "Trust me."

Chuck looked at Cole and grinned. "They are very pretty," he said. "There is no reason why you shouldn't talk to them. Let's face it. You're their main target anyway. You're single. I'll be your wingman for a minute. I think Sarah might understand about that."

"It's not done," Cole said, shaking his head. "I'm here with someone. Imagine how that would make Eleanor look, sharing a room with her and then acting like an alley cat in the resort bar. I may be somewhat of a cad, but I'm an honorable one."

"I know this makes me sound like an over-protective brother," Chuck said, "but what's the deal with you and Ellie?"

Cole, his shoulders stiffening uncomfortably, took a pull of his drink. "We're just friends," he finally said.

"You're not looking for her to be a notch on your bed post," Chuck said, more to himself than Cole, "that's for sure. I can see the way you look at her."

"No, Chuck," Cole said, "I understand that you're her brother and that it's natural for you to be protective. But trust me, you're right. It's not like that at all."

Chuck sat staring at his own drink, deep in thought. "You're falling for her," he said cautiously, a smile spreading on his face as he finally figured it out. "Of course. I should have realized that already. Cole Barker is falling in love."

If Chuck expected Cole to smile at his not-so-subtle teasing, he was surely disappointed. "It's not that either," Cole said sadly. "Not really. Eleanor reminds me of someone. That's all."

"Who?" he asked curiously. Even in normal circumstances, he had trouble controlling his curiosity. When faced with the prospect of learning more about his friend, learning more about a spy's past, his interest shot through the roof. "Come on, you're not going to tell me? Whoever she is, you're in love with her. Are you going to tell Ellie at least?"

"We've been through this, Chuck," Cole said. "I'm not looking to fall in love."

"What's her name?" Chuck asked.

Cole's shoulders slumped as he took another long uncomfortable sip of his drink and finally said, "Her name was Brigid."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were finally back in their room. It had been a long day, even by spy standards. Sarah had had to do some pretty fast talking to compromise with Ellie. She had wanted to throw on their new bikinis as soon as they were done shopping for them and lie on the beach. As nice as that sounded, Sarah knew that Chuck especially wouldn't be up for that. So they settled for a quick barefoot walk to check out the beach followed by a quiet room service dinner on their common veranda. The compromise was that Sarah had promised Ellie that she would be totally in charge of tomorrow's agenda. Ellie seemed to accept that gladly, the glint in her eyes telling everyone that she was quite excited at the prospect.

At Ellie's suggestion, she and Cole were going to go down to the same waterside bar that Chuck and Cole had just been to, listen to the steel drum band, and have a drink or two. Sarah was pretty sure that it was because Ellie looked in the room and realized there was only a single king-sized bed. She couldn't blame her for wanting to stall a little, maybe even get a little liquid courage before climbing into that bed with him. That was exactly what Sarah wanted to do before facing Chuck by herself, and she normally would have pushed to join them for that drink, but she knew that this was one of those times when she had to set things right with Chuck. So she begged off, claiming exhaustion.

Sarah was in the bathroom with the door closed when she called to Chuck. "Could you bring me my hairbrush please?" she asked. "It's in my purse."

Chuck rose from the couch to retrieve the purse from the table near the door. As soon as he opened it, something fell to the floor. He bent down to pick it up, then froze when he realized what he was looking at. It was a Utah Driver's License belonging to a Charles Connor. His heart nearly stopped when he look at the photo. His own face was staring back at him.

The bank manager had been right all along, and that realization slammed into him and knocked his world off it's axis.

He had spent all day sure that Bryce Larkin and Sarah were married in some way and worried about what that meant. But now the relief flooded over him. Bryce wasn't the incredibly lucky Mr. Conner after all.

_He_ was.

x-x-x-x-x


	9. The Promise

_I have good news. I actually heard from BrickRoad. She is safe in her new home. She says hi. She is living with a family who doesn't understand a single word she says. Big deal. That basically describes my life for the past thirty years. Like my wife and kids really understand a single word I say, lol._

_So anyway, I felt so good after hearing from BR that I decided to rewrite parts of the chapter. So shippers, expect lots of Charah sex type stuff. Okay, not really. Sorry, I didn't change anything. This was always the chapter. And they still have that stupid no-sex rule that BR made me put in. But every story I've ever written started with a single vision. The last scene of this chapter is the vision that this story was built around. Indeed, the title will become clear._

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Promise**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck stood there numbly and stared at that driver's license for minutes that seemed to stretch into hours. And as he stood there, his emotions went through a series of changes, not unlike the roller coaster he usually rode when he was around Sarah. At first, he was simply relieved. Relief quickly morphed into vanity, because Bryce wasn't Mr. Connor after all. As petty as it was, he felt like he'd finally beaten his old friend and nemesis at something, something very important.

But she'd told him in no uncertain terms that what she and Bryce had once was over now, and the recollection of her face when she'd told him sent a wave of shame over him. He hated that he was still haunted so much by the image of them kissing in his bedroom last Thanksgiving. _This amazing woman is in love with you, _he told himself._ Why can't you just let that history go?_

The embarrassment was gone as quickly as it'd come, only to be replaced by a growing sense of anger. She should have just _told_ him. Why couldn't she have said something? She was supposed to be a real girlfriend. Just what did she think that meant anyway? She had to know that he was struggling with this, and yet she let him needlessly suffer all day.

Letting his anger overwhelm his sense, he stormed through the room to the bathroom. Every step only made him angrier, and when he finally reached the door, he also reached his boiling point.

"You could have told me!" he shouted through the door. "When are you going to stop being such a coward?"

There was no answer from inside the bathroom, which made Chuck even angrier.

"You let me think the worst all damn day," he fumed. "You let me worry and doubt and hurt, and all the while the truth was so simple. Why couldn't you just tell . . ."

His voice trailed off as the realization hit him. Maybe this wasn't quite as simple as he was making it out to be. Why had she gone to all of the trouble to make a fake driver's license for him when he already had a whole set of Charles Carmichael identification? Why was she so intent on secrecy? He couldn't make sense of it.

So he went back to her purse. He pulled all the other documents out, realizing immediately that this wasn't simple at all. It was anything but simple. His heart fluttered when he saw the marriage license, but it wasn't until he opened the bank statement and saw the balance that he knew for sure. All of this added up led to only one possibility.

She was planning on running with him.

He swallowed thickly. That was treason. This wasn't something Sarah would take lightly. He sunk into a chair as he comprehended the gravity of his discovery. If she were planning on running, planning on giving up her duty for his safety, then she was doing it for him – because she loved him. That was why she was so adamant that no one know the names on these documents. That was why she'd cleaned out the safety deposit box today, because Cole had seen the bank and she was going to have to find a new one. That was why she picked San Diego, because it was close enough to travel to but far enough away that it was outside the CIA's immediate radius, outside anywhere they would be actively looking.

She had also clearly fully intended on him finding that driver's license. That's why she sent him on an errand into her purse looking for a brush. There was no way this was accidental. Come on, Sarah would never be that sloppy. It was her way of telling him.

Chuck walked back to the bathroom only this time with each step he felt more and more guilty. Finally he leaned against the door, feeling about an inch tall. "Sarah," he called softly through the door. "I'm sorry."

There was no response.

"Please," Chuck called. "Come out here so I can talk to you."

When Sarah finally opened the door, she wasn't crying, not even close. But she was clearly emotional. "You're right," she said softly. "I am a coward."

Chuck just wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry that I said that," he said. "I was mad… and confused, and even hurt a little. But that's no excuse. It was an awful thing to say. I feel horrible."

"You don't have to be sorry," Sarah said, although the words were a little muffled because her face was pressed into Chuck's shirt. "I haven't been treating you very well. If I want to call myself your real girlfriend, if I'm going to deserve that honor, that's got to change."

"Sarah," Chuck said softly. "You don't…"

Sarah pulled back a little to look at him. "I'm not really finished," she interrupted. "I'm not so good at the talking thing, so please let me get through this before I lose my nerve. You were absolutely right this morning. I treat life as if it was one big mission. I'm not really going to apologize for that. Those are my instincts. I've come to trust them. They've kept me alive… and they're going to keep you alive."

Chuck nodded but didn't respond.

"Being a spy on a mission and being a real girlfriend don't co-exist very well, do they?" Sarah continued. "I won't apologize about that either. And keeping you safe is always, always going to be my first priority… even over being your girlfriend. If I ever err, it's going to be on the side of being safe, of protecting you. That part's non-negotiable, I'm afraid. I hope that you can learn to live with that because it's the only way for this to work. I'm not going to have to attend your funeral, Chuck. I… I just can't do that."

Chuck just nodded again. She paused for a moment to straighten his collar. Chuck had long ago known that was her way of working up to say something, so he just waited for her.

"I'll freely admit," she finally said, "as good as my spy instincts are, my girlfriend instincts are every bit as horrible. I will apologize for that. I'm sorry. I've never been a real girlfriend before, only a cover one. So I really don't have a clue what to do. I do want to be your real girlfriend, more than you know. I understand there are times when you deserve for your girlfriend to be there for you. This morning was one of those times. I should have never allowed you to feel bad all day thinking that I might have had a husband someplace. I feel horrible about that."

"Come on, Sarah," Chuck said. "You're being way too hard on yourself. You save my life every other day."

"That's my job," Sarah sighed. "And yes, I'm good at that. But you deserve more from me. And the plain reality is we weren't in any danger in that bank this morning. I just hid behind that because I didn't know how to tell you… and didn't want to deal with it right then. That was just plain wrong of me. So I'm very sorry. Just like you're going to work on being jealous, I promise to work on being there for you. I'll still need you to be patient with me… just like I'll try to be patient with you over your being jealous. But, Chuck, I promise to really try. Do we have a deal?"

"Neither one of us is perfect, are we?" Chuck said. "We're both pretty flawed. But even with all that… I'm so crazy about you. I'm sorry that I got mad. Maybe we can start fresh."

"Okay," Sarah said as she broke the embrace. "Starting fresh is a good idea. By the way, I'm crazy about you too."

Chuck smiled. "Can we come up with a better term than girlfriend?" he asked. "I feel like I'm back in High School."

"I was never a girlfriend in High School so it's a new feeling for me," Sarah said with her own smile. "As a first step toward being a real girlfr… umm… significant other, I wanted you to be the first one to see me in this. Well, I guess Ellie's seen it… but you know what I mean. Do you like it?"

For the first time Chuck realized that she was wearing a bikini. Okay, so maybe that wasn't completely true. But when she stepped back for him to get a good look was the first time that he became conscious of it enough to actually think about it. It was an off-white string number. The straps that reached up around her neck were augmented by three gold ringlets on each side. She was also wearing a set of earrings that perfectly matched the ringlets. The top wasn't obscene or anything, but it certainly wasn't modest, even by bikini standards. He really didn't know what to say. She looked like an angel… assuming of course, that you could ever picture an angel wearing such a skimpy bikini. "Wow," was all that he could get to come out of his mouth.

Fortunately, that was more than enough. Sarah's face broke into a relaxed smile for the first time all day. "Thank you. That's exactly what I was going for," she said. "Ellie said that you would like it. This is a little more revealing than I would normally wear, but she insisted. Maybe this makes up a little for those ridiculous pajamas last night."

"It's amazing," Chuck said his voice barely above a whisper. "I mean, you're amazing. I mean…" he just stood there gaping. Finally the corners of his mouth turned into his classic grin. "You're not actually going to ever wear it where Cole can see, are you?"

"I'm afraid so," Sarah laughed as she playfully slapped his chest.

"I hate the term significant other," he said, still grinning. "Let's go back to girlfriend. Well, thank you for showing me first. That's a very girlfriend type thing to do. Hopefully, someday I can also be the first to see you take it off. Since you need help with your instincts, I'm just saying. That would be even more of a girlfriend type thing."

That got them both laughing out loud… and completely broke whatever tension was still there. "Nice try," Sarah laughed. "Maybe someday. But I want to tell you about Charles and Sarah Conner. I owe you that from this morning. You probably have a lot of questions."

But after a moment, Chuck got serious again. "I let you down this morning too," he said. "I haven't done a very good job of working on my jealousy, have I? Sarah, I am trying. I'll try harder."

"Chuck," she said. "It's okay. I under…"

"It's not okay," Chuck interrupted. "It's childish. I know that."

"It's not childish," Sarah said. "It's human nature. I haven't been very understanding. Chuck, I hope that you won't be jealous, because it makes you hurt for no reason. But I do think that I understand. I really need you to hear this. Here's the real deal with me and Bryce. I know that there are things that he's gotten from me that I haven't been able to give you yet. And I feel horrible about that. I do. I swear, if I could give you those things right now, I would. I want them just as much as you do. But Chuck, if you really knew how I felt about him and how I feel about you, if you could just look inside my head and see what's in there, you'd honestly feel silly for being jealous of him. You never would be again. There is just no comparison. I'm sorry. I don't have the words to explain that to you very well. I hope that over time things will get better. I do understand your history with him and what happened with Jill. So I'm going to give you a pass about being jealous about Bryce. Not because you have any reason. Just because I understand how hard it must be for you."

Chuck knew very well what things she was talking about, the things that Bryce had gotten. Sex, I-love-you, even silly things like seeing her take off her bikini. And he also knew why she couldn't give them to him yet. But that didn't make it hurt any less. "Look," he said. "I understand that you and Bryce had something. And I also understand that it's over. It's just… look, it's just that I can't get the image of last Thanksgiving out of my head."

"When you saw him kiss me," Sarah finished his thought. Suddenly the light bulb in her head flashed on. That's what he was telling her this morning in that bank. He was hoping that someday she'd kiss him like that… perhaps sometime when they weren't standing in front of a bomb ready to explode. "Let's do something about that," she said softly. "After all, talk is cheap. I just remembered. There's something else that I owe you from this morning."

"Something else?" Chuck asked.

"Yes," Sarah said with a soft smile as she stepped up to him, put her arms around his neck and touched her lips to his. "Let's get ready for bed. Then let's see about that brief but intense make-out session you were looking for in the bank. That is something I can give you tonight. Trust me, I'm looking forward to it more than you are. I can promise intense anyway. Brief… not so much."

Chuck's face instantly lit up like a Christmas tree. He just stared at Sarah for a long moment. Then his grin turned sly. "I have an idea," he said. "Maybe we can pretend that I'm a custom's agent… and you're trying to bribe me. No, wait, that's not going to work. I forgot all about the no sex rule."

Sarah's face instantly turned bright red as she ran the conversation back through her mind. "Just how much Spanish do you understand?" she asked.

"Not all that much," Chuck said. "I mostly only know the curse words. Fortunately, that's all I needed to figure out how he was asking you to bribe him."

Sarah couldn't keep in the wet laugh. "I'm really sorry that you had to listen to that," she said as they both continued to laugh. "That guy was such a jerk." She also made a mental note to never discuss anything that she didn't want Chuck to know about in Spanish.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie and Cole were sitting at a table with their drinks. The temperature was still well into the eighties. But after the intense tropical heat of the day, the soft cooler nighttime breeze coming off the water felt absolutely heavenly. The steel drum band was softly playing in the background.

This was plainly the in place to be. In the afternoon, the club had a sleepy sort of vibe, but that completely changed at night. The place was jam packed. The party atmosphere overflowed the bar proper and spilled well out onto the beach. The only reason they got a table at all was because they were staying in the luxury part of the resort and there was a semi-private section reserved for them. The crowd was mostly couples – well to do couples on vacation just like they were pretending to be. But there were some singles, clearly hoping to become couples for the evening. A lot of the folks were dressed in casual summer clothes just like they were. But there were also a lot of bathing suits left over from the busy day on the beach. The bright stars were shinning against the calm water. It was perhaps the most overtly romantic setting that Ellie had ever been in.

"So," Ellie said as she took in the atmosphere… and a sip of the Mai-Tai that Cole had just talked her into ordering. "This is what being undercover is like. I think I might like it."

"I hate to break it to you, Eleanor," Cole said with a laugh. "But this is somewhat of a special case. It's usually not this fabulous."

"What's it usually like?" Ellie asked with a sigh as she looked out over the water.

"It's usually sitting in a cramped van,' Cole said, "listening to some group of jerks plotting some sort of petty mischief… all the while, sitting alongside a smelly fat guy named Joe."

"That's what it's usually like?" Ellie questioned as she kept staring at the water, apparently deep in thought.

"Well," Cole replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Sometimes the smelly fat guy is named Jim… or Fred."

"You're right," Ellie said with a smile as she turned her attention back to him. "That doesn't sound nearly as fabulous."

Cole took a sip of his drink. "I'm surprised that you let Chuck and Sarah off the hook tonight," he said. "I rather expected that you would want them to experience such a romantic atmosphere."

"Patience, my young apprentice," Ellie replied with her own laugh. "We have two whole weeks to work on those two kids. These things have to be approached delicately. If we go to fast, we'll have them eloping. We can't have that. I have big plans for the toast at their wedding. Besides, I think they need to spend a little time alone tonight working on their ground rules. We'll take their training wheels off starting tomorrow."

"I see," Cole said. "This plan is much more sophisticated than I gave it credit for. Do we have to work on our ground rules? Or take our training wheels off?"

"Maybe," Ellie said. "But we can do that after."

"After?" Cole asked. "After what?"

"After we get done dancing, silly," Ellie said. "We're under cover as a couple on a romantic vacation. Really, Cole, you disappoint me. Surely I'm not going to have to instruct you on how to act while you're undercover, am I?"

"Sorry," Cole said as he stood and extended his hand. "I'm embarrassed. I feel like quite the rookie."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah stayed in the bathroom a little longer than absolutely necessary. To be honest, she was more than a little nervous. This would be the first time that she was going to intentionally show Chuck any real passion. And she had certainly set the expectation bar quite high. How would he react? She knew that this was a little dangerous… on two levels.

First, would she send him the right message? If she appeared nervous or apprehensive, this could actually be counter-productive. After all, she was trying to make this easier for him, not harder. Oh, she knew that she could seduce Chuck any time she wanted too. That would be laughably easy. But could she be relaxed and natural with him? And that's what they both needed.

Then there was the total opposite side of the deal. Would she be able to stop? This was something that she herself had been fanaticizing about for a long, long time as well. And never once did her fantasy include stopping short of mind blowing sex. And going to far tonight would be a disaster. Her last bit of hope in being able to go back to a professional relationship was that they hadn't had sex. Once that happened, it was over. And it couldn't be over.

It was a razor's edge that she was trying to walk. She had to show him that she loved him – without making love to him, or even saying the words. One thing for sure, if she was going to err, it was going to be on the side of showing him that she loved him. Tonight she was all Sarah. Ellie was right, Agent Walker was on vacation.

Another thing was for sure. Those dreaded flannel pajamas were most definitely history, replaced with a silk nightshirt that she had bought this afternoon at the same time as the bikini. She made sure that she bought something that wasn't revealing. That wouldn't do. But she knew - the way that it hugged her soft curves was in a lot of ways even sexier than something that showed a lot of skin.

When she finally worked up the nerve to walk out of that bathroom, all of those thoughts were instantly driven out of her head. Suddenly she found herself fighting to keep from giggling like a silly school girl. Her Chuck was standing there – in his own pair of flannel pajamas. He must have bought them at the shop this afternoon when he bought his bathing suit. He knew that she felt embarrassed about the pajamas – and he wanted her to know that she didn't have to be. He was making it easy for her. Could you possibly imagine one of those alpha male types that Ellie was talking about today doing something like that to help her? Could you imagine Bryce Larkin? No way. This was pure Chuck. That was simply her amazing guy. How could you not love him? And it hit her. Her worrying was simply ridiculous. This was Chuck. Necking with him was going to be the most natural thing in the world. So she stepped up to him and pressed her lips against his.

"I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time," she whispered when the first kiss broke. The soft smile of anticipation on his face made everything worth it. So she put her hand behind his head and pulled him in for an even more urgent kiss. As their tongues danced for a long moment she sighed in contentment. This was every bit as fantastic as she ever imagined in her hundreds of daydreams. Now, the only problem that remained was how to stop… while they were still dressed. But even that didn't seem too big of a problem.

x-x-x-x-x

The dance floor was even more packed than the rest of the bar. It was hard to find a spot. And that meant that you were forced to dance pretty close. So Ellie was pressed in pretty tight against his chest.

As soon as they were comfortably dancing, Ellie looked up at Cole with a grin. "You said yesterday that you'd tell me the story of how you became a spy once you knew me a little better," she said. "We're going to be a couple sharing a room for the next two weeks. Maybe we should get this on the table. Just how good are you expecting to know me anyway?"

In spite of the grin that told him she was clearly teasing, for the second time today, Cole actually seemed unsure of himself. "Well, Eleanor," he finally began, "it's really somewhat of a sad story. Are you sure that you want to hear it? We're having such a nice evening. I'd hate to ruin the mood."

Ellie nodded.

"When I was growing up, my little brother, Peter sort of looked up to me," Cole started. "He was a great kid. Whatever I did, he wanted to do it as well. I guess that happens a lot when there isn't a dad around. Not unlike the way that Chuck looks up to you."

Ellie smiled at the subtle compliment.

"Anyway, when I was away at Oxford, Peter met a girl," Cole continued. "You know how it is. A sixteen year old boy thinks he's in love for the first time. They stop thinking. It turned out that she was in with the wrong crowd. Well, one day my mum called. Peter hadn't come home. We spent a rather frantic few days looking for him."

Ellie found herself holding her breath. This story couldn't have a happy ending.

She was right.

"The police found their bodies in an abandoned warehouse three days later," Cole was finally able to get out. "As luck would have it, Peter's girl owed some bad people a fairly large amount of money. He had tried to run away with her, and they got caught. They had been tortured."

Even though they were already dancing fairly close, Ellie pulled him in even closer. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"It was my fault," Cole said. "I wasn't there to look after him."

"Come on, Cole," Ellie said. "That's maybe the most horrible story I've ever heard. But there is no way that it's your fault. So that's why you became a spy? To avenge your brother's death?"

Cole didn't answer for a long moment. "When I started to dig into things, I discovered that the drug cartel was running the town," he said. "It's all because the good people turned their backs and let it happen. So I decided. How could I turn my back and allow that to happen? It was time to take a stand. Look, it will never bring Peter back. I know that. But maybe I can keep somebody else's little brother safe. Maybe someone like yours."

x-x-x-x-x

"Well," Sarah breathed with a smile as the last kiss broke. "Did that finally get the image of Bryce out of your head?" The question was obviously rhetorical. His enthusiasm during the necking left little doubt as to his mood. It was at least equal to hers. They had been going at it pretty hot and heavy for the past half hour. Chuck had actually shown remarkable restraint. His hand hadn't quite made it halfway up her shirt before he thought better of it and withdrew.

"Bryce who?" Chuck sighed as he matched her smile. They were lying in bed, pretty much intertwined with each other. The room was fairly dark but that didn't mean that he couldn't see the outline of her amazing body thru her nightshirt as she lay there under him, her chest straining, trying to catch her breath. Since almost every square inch of their bodies was touching in some way, he could plainly feel her excitement poking into his chest… just as he was sure that she could, umm, feel his. "That was certainly intense. Why was I mad at you again? I don't seem to remember."

"My plot worked," Sarah said as her smile turned into a grin. "It's good to know that I have such a powerful weapon."

Chuck looked at her skeptically. "Like you didn't already know that," he said.

"Okay," Sarah admitted, almost shyly. "But it's always nice to hear it from your boyfriend."

"Umm…" Chuck said awkwardly. "What now? It's only ten. That was great for our first real make-out session. But if we keep this up for much longer…"

Sarah could only grin. Chuck was plainly telling her that he was at the point where he had to stop, or he wouldn't be able too. And since she was well past that point, it was up to Chuck to decide. Fair enough. "I expect that you would have kept going up my shirt until you actually found a knife," Sarah interrupted with a laugh as he rolled off her to his back beside her. She didn't have to look to know that the redness was traveling up his neck at warp speed. So she wanted to make sure that he knew she was teasing… and that it was perfectly fine, even desirable for him to explore inside her shirt a little. "It's okay, Chuck. If you can't find a knife tomorrow, keep looking. We can always take cold showers." But after a beat her voice got noticeably quieter. "Don't you want to hear about Charles and Sarah Conner?"

Chuck paused for a long moment as the smile left his face. "You're planning on us running," he said, his voice barely over a whisper. It was much more statement than question. "Are you sure about this?"

Sarah rolled onto her side to face him. "I'm sure," she said. Her voice was no louder than Chuck's. "I'm not going to let them put you into a bunker. That would just be wrong."

"Sarah," Chuck said sadly. "Isn't what we're talking about treason? It would mean forever, right? Could we actually get away with that? I mean, the CIA, they have eyes everywhere."

In spite of the seriousness of the conversation, Sarah couldn't help but smile at Chuck's rambling. It was always so cute when he did that. "Yes," she said. "We can get away with it, as long as we follow my plan exactly. If it happens we can't afford even a single mistake. That's why I've been so uptight about telling you anything. If anybody finds out even a single detail about this, they'll track us and we'll get caught. You're absolutely right… on both counts. It would be treason, it technically already is. And it would be forever."

"I can't let you do that," Chuck said softly. "Sarah, come on. I understand how important your duty, your career are to you. I can't let you spend the rest of your life running, looking over your shoulder, the rest of your life pretending to be married to me."

"You can't let me?" Sarah said with the beginnings of a grin. "You don't know me very well do you? I'm going to give you a get-out-of-jail-free card this once because, well, you're so cute. But boy, was that the wrong thing to say. Yes, my duty and career used to be number one in my life, but not any more. And actually, I wouldn't be pretending. Charles and Sarah Conner are legally married. Didn't you see the marriage license inside my purse? You can cry all you want. But I'm not giving you a divorce."

Chuck was plainly frustrated that Sarah wasn't taking him seriously. "You know what I mean," he said with somewhat of an edge. "Assuming that I'm the guy that you would want to spend the rest of your life with, you're ready for that?"

For now, Sarah just ignored the unasked part of his question. "You're not going to a bunker," she said firmly. "I couldn't live with that. I decided that a long time ago, the day with Agent Longshore when it almost happened. Don't worry about me. That's the least of your worries. If it happens, I'll be ready."

He waited for a long moment cuddling with her. Since she wouldn't take the hint, he was forced to actually ask her. "Sarah," he finally said tentatively. "Are you saying that you're ready to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Sarah didn't answer, for a long moment. "I have to admit," she said. "I'm pretty disappointed that at this point you feel you would have to ask me that. But I guess that's a little unfair. You couldn't possibly know that, could you?" She finally just nodded. "Yes, Chuck, for the record, I am. What about you? If it happens, this is forever."

"You know that I am," Chuck said.

Sarah couldn't help but smile at the look of concern in his face. "That's good to know," she said in mock seriousness.

Sarah was still clearly trying to keep the mood light, and Chuck was just as clearly still not having any of it. "I don't understand something," he said. "If we're both ready now, then why are we talking about a two week trial thing? Why don't we just stay together now even if we don't have to run? I'd love that."

Sarah knew that it was important that he understand. She was ready. She had been for a while. It was just impossible. "I knew that's the first thing that you would ask," she said. "You're misunderstanding what the issue is here. You always have. I tried to tell you this last night but you didn't hear me. This is not about me being ready or even what I want. It never has been. If it was we'd have been together a year ago. Come on, Chuck. I know that I haven't been totally open or honest with you. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing for your own good. But you must have known how I felt at some level, right?"

Chuck paused for a moment. Then he nodded, sadly.

"And you want total honesty?" Sarah continued. "Okay. Yes, the idea of being a full time wife and mother is still a little scary to me right now. I'll adjust but if we run you're really going to have to show me some patience until I can grow into that. But that has nothing to do with the issue of if we can be together now. It's just not possible. As long as you're the intersect, the powers that be are simply not going to let us. And I'm pretty sure we'd never be able to fool them. That's what these two weeks are for. Because if we try and fool them and they catch us, they'll separate us. I can't live with that. We'll have to wait them out."

Chuck pulled her even tighter to him. "Why don't we just run?" he asked. "I'd rather be Charles Conner… if it means that I'd have you."

"No you wouldn't, Chuck," Sarah said sadly, "not once you lived it for a while. I wish it could be that easy. Sure, we'd be together, and that part would be great. The excitement of starting our life together would last for a while. But, Chuck, you wouldn't like being Charles Conner at all. You'd eventually come to hate it. And then you'd eventually come to resent me for forcing you into it."

She paused for a moment to smile at his confused look. "For one thing, Charles Conner doesn't have a sister. He doesn't have friends. He doesn't know who Morgan Grimes even is. Charles and Sarah Conner are cowards. They are going to spend the rest of their lives running from the things that they believe in. They are never going to live in the same place for longer than a couple of months. They're never going to have close friends or family. If Charles Conner flashed on a terrorist that was about to blow up a school bus, his wife would make him just walk away and ignore it. And the only way for there to be a Charles Conner is for there to stop being a Chuck Bartowski."

Chuck just nodded.

Sarah though about her earlier talk with Ellie, and knew that she couldn't leave it there. She needed to tell him how she really felt. For once, he deserved to hear it. So she found as much of her smile as she could manage. "That would be so sad," she continued, "Chuck Bartowski is such an amazing man. He is the sweetest guy I've ever met. I really never knew guys like that existed. His friends and family mean everything to him. He has such an amazing gift."

She noticed the sad look come over his face. She knew exactly what he was thinking. And he was wrong.

"No, silly, I'm not talking about any stupid computer in his brain," she said as she reached out and touched his arm. "He is a true hero. I've spent my entire adult life surrounded by people who are called heroes. But Chuck Bartowski is a hero in a way that almost nobody else is - certainly not Bryce Larkin or Cole Barker… or Sarah Walker. Because he isn't equipped to do any of the crazy things that he tries to do, but he does them anyway. When I first met him I just assumed that he was playing a game, that he didn't know how dangerous all this really was. But I was wrong. He knew. But he always tried to do the right thing anyway, even when the right thing was hard, even when it was dangerous, even when it was downright stupid. And sure, I get pissed at him sometimes for doing stupid, dangerous things. But only because I couldn't bear seeing anything bad happen to him. From the very first day I met him, I liked that guy. After a few days, I began to really like him. He started to change what I wanted out of life. I found out that I liked myself better when I was with him. Now, I'm in lo… umm, I'm crazy about him. I don't want to lose him."

"But, Sarah," Chuck sighed. "You must know that I feel just as strongly about you. We could be together. Don't you want that?"

"That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you," Sarah said softly. "It wouldn't really be us. We would both have to change too much. Yes, of course I want us to be together. It's really starting to bother me that you don't seem to believe that. I don't know how much more plainly I can say it. If you still are questioning that in any way, please stop. Sure, I understand that I've been pushing you away for the past two years, but I'm begging you to let that go. Chuck, the honest truth is that I probably want it a lot more than you do. I think about what our kids are going to look like all the time."

The grin on his face… wow. "Okay," he said. "That settles it. Who are you and what have you done with Sarah?"

"I really didn't plan on telling you that last part about the kids," Sarah shyly admitted as the blush quickly hit her face. "It just slipped out. I'm sorry if that freaked you out a little. It's absolutely true though. I do think about it, a lot. Maybe that was a bit much to lay on you all at once. You're right, I usually don't like to talk about feelings much. But Ellie convinced me that you deserve to hear it, that the doubt was hurting you. That's the last thing I would want. So I'm doing my best to make sure that you don't have any doubts about how I feel about you. I'm sorry that I'm so horrible at it."

"Don't apologize," Chuck said. "I'm not freaked out at all, at least not in a bad way. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing this. I have to admit, I've never thought about what our kids will look like. For a long time that always seemed like to much too even hope for. And I guess I've always just assumed they would look like you. But I have thought about where they would go to school, who they would marry, what they would do with their lives, how loved they would feel…"

Sarah paused for a moment to gently kiss him. "That's why we have to wait," she finally said. "I want that future… with you. I don't want to lose any part of what makes us, us. So sure, I could have that life with the cheap imitation of a Charles Conner right now. But I'm willing to wait for the original. For right now, I need to keep you alive… and keep them from separating us."

She paused for a long moment. It was time to lay it on the line. So she took a deep breath and pushed on. "Let's promise each other something tonight," she said. "The very second that we can be together we will be. Nobody is going to cheat us out of our life together. It just might have to wait until you're free from that curse inside your head. I wish I could tell you when or even how that will happen, but I can't. I know that waiting is ridiculously hard but I also know that running has to be a last resort. It would mean that we would have to give up too much of what we love about each other. We'll do it if they force us, but only if they force us. Agreed?"

It didn't escape Chuck that she had just used the 'L' word. He completely understood why she was stopping short of saying that she loved him. Well, she almost slipped up a few minutes ago. But she didn't have to say it. It came through loud and clear. It also didn't escape him that she had just given him something that she had never come close to giving to Bryce… her life, her future… her. So he paused for a long moment. "Agreed," he finally said with a deep sigh. "I promise too. Is it wrong to hope that they force us?"

Sarah smiled… and leaned in to gently kiss him yet again. "A little," she said. "But it's okay. I understand what you're feeling. I feel it too."

Chuck leaned in, gently cupped her face in his hands, and returned her kiss, this time with much more intensity. "Thank you," he whispered. "You'll never know how much what you've done means to me. You keep calling me a hero. But don't you see, you're the hero? I'm such in awe of you. I can't believe we're together. I'm just a regular guy. You're larger than life. You're a goddess."

It was the first time that Chuck had ever been the one to initiate a real kiss. That was in itself… incredibly exciting. All Sarah could do was smile softly. He was so sweet. But he also couldn't be more wrong. She wasn't a goddess, not even close. She was just a messed up scared little girl who didn't even like herself very much… until she met him. "I'm not a goddess, Chuck," she said. "You just make me feel like one. I really wish things could be different. I'm sorry that this is so complicated. I mean, you deserve better. You deserve a normal girl, a normal life."

"Maybe," he said softly. "You're probably right. If I deserve anything, it's a normal girl. But it looks like I'm lucky enough that I've bagged a goddess that I don't deserve."

Sarah's smile broadened.

"This might be complicated," Chuck continued, "but please don't ever say you're sorry, never again. I'm not sorry at all. This is all going to work out. We're going to make it happen. I hope we don't have to wait that long, but I'm willing to… just as long as it takes. When I was a teenager, Ellie always told me that a relationship is like a road. The road might be winding, it might have twists and turns, hills and valleys, and sometimes you might even look like you're going in the wrong direction for a while. But that road is going to take us someplace wonderful. And the memories and experiences that we share together are the bricks that make up that road. So even the not-so-good experiences are special… because they happen with you. They make up this road that we're going to travel together. Sarah, you need to know something. There's no one in the whole wide world that I'd want to share that road with except for you – that long brick road.

Ellie was absolutely right. It was a magical night. Sarah had to simultaneously blink tears out of her eyes and wipe the silly grin off her face at the pure romance of the moment. And the best part was that he truly meant it. He wasn't trying to sweet talk her into bed like so many had before him. They were already in bed. There wasn't a single ounce of anything fake in what he was saying. Ellie said that Chuck was the perfect first boyfriend. But it was more than that. He was the perfect soul mate.

It suddenly hit her, this moment, right now was by far the very best one of her life. The silly man lying there thought that he wasn't smooth. She tried frantically to suppress the fire that was raging inside of her enough to think of any possible scenario that would allow for sex tonight. But lacking a time machine, she just couldn't come up with one.

Sex was simply a terrible idea until they could go forward openly. It just was. All of the reasons were still there. It would be too hard for both of them to pretend to be platonic after that happened. And that would quickly lead to them getting caught and forced to either run or be separated. But there also was no kidding herself. She wasn't even sure which outcome she was praying for. But one thing that wasn't in doubt, if he made any sort of move up to and including brushing up against her arm again tonight, that no-sex thing was out the window – tomorrow be damned.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on which you were rooting for, he didn't. He just rolled unto his back and pulled her close. "Goodnight, Sarah," he said.

Sarah waited silently until his soft breathing told her that he was asleep. It was the most frustrating… exciting… special… damnest night of her whole life all rolled into one. Then it hit her. For all intents and purposes, they were now engaged. After all, they had just pledged their eternal love and agreed to spend the rest of their lives together – what else would you call it? And it had all happened without a proposal, ring, sex, or even an I-love-you. Moreover, they really didn't have a clue when those typical relationship milestone moments could ever happen. It could very well be years. He had just expressed pure faith in her. They were more than just a different kind of couple – it was a freaking fairy tale. All she could do was let out a sigh, snuggle close into her new favorite position, and force her mind to think about how good he felt.

Except for that silly flannel pajama top he was wearing. That was definitely going to have to go tomorrow night. She deftly unbuttoned the bottom two buttons so she could reach up under it to gently rub his stomach and chest as he slept. She was forced to grin at the irony. They always did have an odd gender reversal thing going, so it actually seemed to fit that she would be the first to go to second base. That was something that would have to be fixed, starting tomorrow. Softly rubbing his chest didn't completely remove the sweet ache in her own, but after all, she was pretty used to that. And it was nice… as far as it went anyway. "Goodnight, Chuck," she whispered. "It's all going to happen someday soon. I'm really sorry that this is so hard. I promise to make this all up to you… And when I do, you won't know what hit you."

x-x-x-x-x

_A/N: Not that it matters, but this is how I would have handled season three had anybody in charge ever asked me. This isn't hindsight, I said so at the time. If you were afraid of putting them together and wanted to milk WT/WT for another season, this seems like a good way. Have them profess their love, and yet have to constantly fool TPTB into thinking they are not together. You could have still had all the angst you wanted. You could still have them (and us) aching for them to be together. You could have even still introduced Shaw, Hannah, and the dreaded trapezoid. Pretending to be with other people would just have been Sarah's plan to fool TPTB. You could have given us a scene every third episode or so of them kissing in the dark someplace, telling each other to hang in there. That someday soon they'd be together for real._

_Don't worry. This story isn't going there. But still, tell me that wouldn't have been better than what we got._


	10. The Agent and the Girlfriend

_Okay. This chapter was getting way too long. And I figured that you would rather have a normal sized chapter twice a week than a huge chapter once a week._

_Sometimes in life, a little rain must fall, even in Mexico._

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Agent and the Girlfriend**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah made no effort to keep the grin off her face as she jogged around the resort with Ellie. Why would she? Things were going great. Why shouldn't the rest of the world know how happy she was? Since Ellie and her were both early risers, they had made it a routine to take an early run every day before the guys got up. And it was really the only time of day that you could actually jog and be free of the intense humid heat of the day and the even more intense horde of men who would be waiting to hit on two women alone running in bikinis. At least, that was Ellie's rational. Okay, so maybe that was just an excuse for her to get up and dressed before Cole was awake, but whatever the reason, it was a fun thing for them to do together.

Sarah usually hated to run with other people. They just slowed her down. But actually Ellie was used to running with Devon, so the pace was nothing she wasn't accustomed too. And that had the additional benefit of keeping the horde of men away. Hardy any of them could keep up the blistering pace for more than a couple of minutes.

Ellie was actually having somewhat of a good time with that. She was clearly enjoying teasing them. Sarah normally wouldn't have wanted anything to do with encouraging any other men. After all, she had all the men hitting on her that she could handle under normal circumstances. And even with Chuck still in bed softly snoring, the last thing she wanted to do was to have any more of that to possibly have to explain to him. But she had to admit, it was a little fun to see them trying to keep up after Ellie flirted with them in the just barely there bikini she was almost wearing, only to see the despair in their faces as exhaustion quickly set in and they were left in the dust.

It had truly been a magical few days. Ellie had kept them so busy she was having a tough time reminding herself that this was a mission. Sarah was having such a good time that she was starting to feel guilty. It felt far more like two well-to-do best friend couples going on a vacation. It felt like family. And that was a feeling that she was eating up.

Okay, so Ellie and Cole weren't really a couple. Or were they? It was getting hard to tell. They sure looked like one. Honestly, sometimes they looked more like a couple than her and Chuck did. She freely admitted that she was a little concerned. Every since Ellie admitted her attraction to Cole, Sarah tried to make sure that she was there for her to talk it out. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be going anyplace serious. That could get messy. After all, Devon was a good guy. She didn't know him all that well, not nearly as well as Ellie, but she liked what she did know a lot. He didn't deserve to be hurt.

Naturally, it was Ellie who always thought of the fun touristy things to do. She took her role as itinerary planner very seriously. After all, she reasoned that they were under cover. They needed to look like tourists, right? Of course Sarah knew that Ellie was simply setting up activities to let Chuck and her feel like a normal couple. She also took her role as big sister very seriously. And Sarah had to admit, some of the stuff wasn't really necessary for their cover. But she also had to admit, she had never had more fun in her life.

Sarah wouldn't have predicted that she would have enjoyed going deep sea fishing. She never had gone fishing of any kind before. In fact, she rolled her eyes when Ellie brought it up. But once she found out that there was a mate who was the only one who actually had to touch the fish, she reluctantly agreed. But she didn't think it would be fun. She was wrong. She never laughed so hard in her life as when Chuck reeled in that Octopus… and didn't know what it was. Of course she didn't know either, but it wasn't on her hook. The only problem was that she got a little sunburned. Oh, and a little drunk. She honestly wasn't burned that bad, but it gave her new boyfriend the excuse he was clearly looking for to rub lotion all over her body. And since the lotion part had her pretty much naked anyway, the drunk part took their necking to a new level that night. So all in all, it wasn't that bad.

Sarah would have known that she would have enjoyed the day jumping waves on rented jet-skis… and she was right. Maybe scaring Chuck to death playing chicken with him wasn't her proudest moment, but it was a blast. Even he came around after a while.

But the highlight activity was clearly when they rented a sailboat and spent an incredibly romantic night out on the gulf sleeping under the stars. Sarah had never seen a sight as awe inspiring as those millions of stars. It was so moving as they cuddled together in that hammock that she now knew what her vote was going to be for her and Chuck's honeymoon… and that was the tip off that she was in big trouble. It wasn't the time yet to be thinking in honeymoon terms.

Of course there was the time that they chartered a boat to take them to that private island with a picnic lunch for the day. Ellie was clearly taking this money-is-no-object thing seriously. Sarah happened to mention to Chuck that one of her lifelong fantasies was to make love on the beach with the waves crashing over them, more to see his reaction than anything. She knew they couldn't do that. Although Ellie did drag Cole off for a bit of island exploring to give them some privacy. So they settled for just necking in the surf. Even that was great enough that Sarah added the real thing to her list of planned honeymoon activities. Sarah's bikini mostly stayed on.

And naturally there was plenty of time to just relax on the amazing white beach with a cool rum drink in one hand and her new hot boyfriend in the other. Even though the two weeks was barely half over, Sarah was starting to dread having to go back.

Today Ellie's plan was a bit more ambitious than most. She wanted to take the plane and fly to Teotihuacán, Mexico's grandest archaeological site, to see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon. There was really no reason why they shouldn't take the plane. They weren't leaving the country so Sarah wouldn't have to deal with bribing the custom's guy again. That would have been a deal breaker. But Sarah had a hard time telling Ellie no, so she agreed. Clearly today was a payoff to Ellie's new roommate. It was obviously designed to appeal to Cole's love of history.

Of course a large part of why Sarah felt so good was her new best friend. She never imagined that she could ever get so close to someone. And the best part was, she could be friends with Ellie without having to break any rules. She wouldn't have to worry about breaking her heart in two weeks. Beckman would care less if she appeared to be close to Chuck's sister. They were getting to the point where they could tell what the other was thinking without even saying anything. It was also clear that Ellie was enjoying this at least every bit as much as she was. She always made sure that part of every day's agenda included some time for the two of them to get away for some girl's only thing. Sometimes they went shopping. Yesterday Ellie bought a new bikini. But most days they just spent a quiet hour having a drink or two together at the bar relaxing and connecting. Most times, those hours turned into giggling sessions talking about Chuck's nerd days growing up. And, sure, a lot of that time was spent in mentoring Sarah in the art of being a real girlfriend. But Ellie opened up to her a lot too. It was amazing how good that made her feel.

And there was actually a fair amount for her to open up. Ellie was definitely taking this vacation-from-being-Ellie thing seriously. Naturally, she was worried about Devon. It took a fair amount of reassurance that he and Casey were almost assuredly fine. Of course Sarah didn't mention that, since Casey hated to waste money, they were probably holed up in some cheap motel room eating army rations. Maybe she was compensating for something, but Sarah definitely noticed a change.

Ellie had always been outgoing and friendly, once she knew you anyway. But now she was downright flirty. Which was okay, except when it encouraged whoever she was flirting with and the friend that he always seemed to have to overflow onto Sarah. And her dress… wow. Usually Ellie was pretty conservative. And Sarah's bikini wasn't exactly modest. But the one that Ellie went and bought yesterday… it was downright tiny. And it was more than that. Even when she was dressed in clothes, it was now always with extra buttons unbuttoned or plunging necklines or no bra. It was completely out of character. Even Chuck noticed, and he was typically pretty clueless about those sorts of things. She was clearly enjoying the extra male attention she was getting… and she was definitely getting it. They hadn't paid for a drink all week… at least when the guys weren't there.

The only bad thing about her spending so much time with Ellie was that it allowed Chuck and Cole to become close. And even that wasn't exactly bad. In a lot of ways it was great. At first blush it was an unlikely friendship. But they had clearly become close buddies. They hung out with each other every day while she and Ellie did their girl thing. It warmed her heart to see Chuck finally make a comfortable friend in the spy world. Oh, Casey was a great partner. And he was plainly coming to have some growing affection for Chuck in his own way. But his affection was mostly manifested in the big brother teasing, tough love style. Casey would rather die than give Chuck a compliment. So a big part of Sarah was happy that Cole had taken Chuck under his wing. The only thing that kept it from being a great thing was that Cole obviously had a different view of Chuck's role in the spy world than she did. And the last thing she needed was Cole encouraging him to take even more risks. He already took far too many.

But the real highlight of the past few days dwarfed all of those other things and kept a perpetual grin on her face. Her and Chuck… well, they just clicked. Which was a good thing considering that they had already agreed to spend the rest of their lives together. She always knew that it would be great. But this… it was better than her wildest fantasy. They held hands almost everyplace they went… swinging their arms like a couple of teenagers on their first date. It was almost embarrassing how she still tingled every time he would grab her hand. Maybe she was in some strange time warp and had turned sixteen again. But in other ways it was like they had been a couple for years. Their snuggling at night was so comfortable that Sarah wondered how she would ever get to sleep alone again. That's as far thinking ahead about after the trial was over that she would allow herself.

And their make out sessions… they had turned decidedly intense. Sarah knew that the last thread of hope that she had in making this work was they hadn't as of yet smoked that symbolic cigarette. But every single night they were coming a little closer to the edge. The truth was that she had long ago given up control to Chuck in that area. She was thankful that Chuck always knew when and how to end it without things becoming painfully frustrating, because she would have long ago just gone for it. As it was, there was a sweet ache that never quite went away.

Sarah was actually beginning to question if it wouldn't be better to just give in and let it happen. At least, they'd have this week. For one thing, she was really starting to feel guilty. The truth was, she had given her body to other men before. Bryce was only the one Chuck knew about. There had been others, not many but a couple, marks on missions that she didn't even know. That's what spies were expected to do. And it was more than just sex that she had given them. She had used her training to become more or less a plaything for those men. After all, that's how you quickly got close enough to a man that he was willing to give up his information, or his country, or his cause. She didn't regret it, not at all. After all she had saved untold lives, and in the case of that mission in Italy, possibly untold millions of lives. But she sure didn't want it to hurt Chuck. And it certainly didn't seem fair to withhold anything now from this incredible man who she was going to grow old with.

And it was not only sex that she was feeling guilty about. She was aching to tell him how much she loved him… and hopefully hear it back. Oh, she had no doubts that he knew how she felt… and even less doubt about how he felt about her. But it would feel so good to be able to say it. He deserved to hear it. And besides, that was something that a mark had never gotten from her. Even Bryce had never heard her say those words exactly. He'd said it… and she didn't correct him, but that wasn't quite the same, was it? It would be so great see the look on Chuck's face when she could truthfully tell him that he was the first man that she had ever been in love with. For that matter, he was also going to be the last one. How great was that?

But she also knew that, hard as it was on both of them, she was doing what was best for him. That's the only reason she could even hope to keep it up. In a week, they were going to have to sell that they were platonic… to experts at reading people who were always watching them. How could they possibly do that after being a sexual couple? And the consequences for blowing it would be severe. There was no way to tolerate being separated. That would force them to run… with everything that implied. It was critical that they not blow it.

She knew she was just rationalizing things in her mind, looking for excuses because she wanted it so badly. One thing was for sure, it might soon be moot. She had already decided that very first night if Chuck pressed the issue in the slightest way, she would just allow it to happen. Well, that might not be exactly true. She would jump on him with an enthusiasm that would probably scare him a little. Besides, they were already getting as close to sex as you possibly could and still say under oath that you hadn't done it yet. Chuck had long ago given up wearing a shirt to bed. Sarah still put on her silk nightshirt every night… but even that was getting silly. For the past few nights it hadn't been on for ten minutes before it was pushed up to her neck, and ten minutes later hit the floor. So far she had managed to keep from ripping Chuck's pajama bottoms off, and her panties had remained more or less in place. But it was clearly just a matter of a few more nights before he got bold enough so that those last things hit the floor as well. And since she was depending on Chuck to stop her, would he be able too once they were naked? Did it even matter anymore?

For one thing, she was dying to know what it would be like. Chuck was simply unlike any other man she had ever heard of. All the other men she had ever been in bed with, including Bryce, were crude, aggressive, demanding, and basically using her for their own satisfaction. Well, it's true that Bryce was the only one who wasn't a mark of some kind. You would probably expect that from them. But Chuck was on a completely different level. He was sweet and tender, almost bashful… and most of all attentive to making her feel totally loved. She just knew that making love with him would be special. She was trying hard not to set her expectations to a ridiculous level. But she knew… it would be so great.

It was funny, even though Sarah was having more fun on this trip than she had ever had in her life… that hour or so just before sleep that they reserved for each other had become the highlight of her day. She knew that she was going to seriously have to give herself a pep talk on the plane ride home after this was over. She was acting far too little like an agent and far too much like a lovesick schoolgirl. If she kept thinking about Chuck as her fiancé instead of her asset, it was her that would blow it and get them separated, not Chuck. Fortunately, that was still six glorious days away.

So there was more than a little tingle when she saw Cole and her special guy standing on the beach. That was until they got closer… and she could see that Cole was teaching him how to block punches. That popped Sarah's good mood like a balloon. It was the last thing that she wanted. Chuck wasn't an agent. Hell, the honest truth was, he wasn't even a good candidate. Cole should have known better. And even if he didn't, she had certainly told him her opinion. All this was going to do was give him false confidence that he could handle himself, and get him in over his head. So she decided, it was time to put an end to this nonsense right now.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked as they walked up, perhaps not harshly but with a clear edge.

"Working on some self defense moves," Cole answered. "Who knows when it could come in handy?"

The flaring in Sarah's nostrils left very little question as to her mood. "We've talked about this," she snapped. "Cole, I know that you think that you're helping. But trust me, you're not helping."

After being real with Sarah for a few months, Chuck would have quickly recognized that she was pissed, kept his mouth shut, and waited a few minutes for her to cool off before trying to talk to her. Unfortunately, today, after only being real for a few days, he foolishly tried to defend his friend and talk to her now.

"Actually," he said with the boyish smile that always got him out of trouble with her, "don't blame Cole. I'm the one who asked him for the help."

Sarah turned her angry face towards Chuck. "Okay," she said, "you want to learn how to fight? Why don't you let me help you? I'm actually in the right mood for a fight."

Chuck suddenly realized that she was more pissed than he had originally thought. So he tried to calm her down. "Come on, Sarah," he said softly. "Let's talk about this. Don't be mad. What's the harm? It can't hurt, right?"

Unfortunately, that was exactly the wrong thing to say to her. It just pissed her off even more. It could hurt… a lot. And it was time to show him. "Okay," she said. "Then show me what you've learned." She threw a punch at Chuck at about three quarter's speed. Chuck was afraid for a second that she was going to actually hit him to make her point… so he was relieved when he easily deflected the blow. However he didn't get the chance to feel good about it for very long. Because Sarah grabbed his arm and used it as leverage to flip him over her hip. Before Chuck knew what was happening, he was face down in the sand with Sarah on his back. She had his right arm pinned behind him. She had him totally controlled by using the pressure of his pinned arm. It hurt like hell. All he could think about was the pain.

"I'll tell you what the harm is," she growled sarcastically. "I know that this hurts but I'm actually taking it easy on you right now. I could very easily make it hurt a lot worse. If I wanted too, I could snap your arm by just leaning on it a little. You'd quickly pass out from the pain and be helpless. What I just showed you is probably the first offensive move that a rookie agent learns. Any agent past their third month of training can do it in their sleep. So now what happens when you take on that agent in a fight thinking you can block his punch? I'll answer that one for you since your mouth seems to be full of sand. You're dead, Chuck. Toe tag dead. Do I have to be any more plain than that? And not to rub salt into an already open wound, after all you're the one who's dead, but do you have a clue what happens to me then? To Ellie? Don't you even care about us? Doesn't it concern you that we have to go to your funeral? Doesn't it bother you that it would make me want to stop living myself? I thought we were past this."

Chuck really couldn't talk. All he could think about was the pain that was running down from his shoulder and into his arm. What came out was more moan than anything.

Sarah turned to face Cole with her white hot angry face while keeping the pressure on his arm. "You think that you're helping," she hissed through gritted teeth. "I understand that. But all you're really doing is encouraging him to get in situations that he's not equipped to deal with. This is my asset, my responsibility. I've tried to ask you nicely several times, one professional to another. I'm going to try one last time, but let's be clear. I'm about done being nice about this. Please stop."

"Okay, Sarah," Cole quickly responded in a hushed voice. "You've made your point. But do you have to do it in such a public place?"

x-x-x-x-x

There was really no reason that Sarah was still manually flying. The autopilot was perfectly capable of keeping the plane on course for the next hour, actually better than she was. Truth be told, Sarah was using flying as an excuse to have a quiet moment to gather her thoughts… and her composure.

Yes, she had gone a little nuts earlier. Okay, so that was an understatement. She had hurt him. Even worse, she had embarrassed him. Once she looked around and saw the people looking at them, she realized what it made Chuck look like. She tried to help him up, to say that she was sorry, but he clearly wasn't in a mood to forgive her just yet, or speak to her for that matter.

She would have been fine with canceling today's trip and spend the day in their room trying to make up with him. But Ellie simply wouldn't hear of it. She mumbled something about getting right back on the horse that had just bucked you off, whatever the hell that meant. It was a shame. They were making such progress. Why did this have to happen? Why did Cole have to encourage him? Why couldn't Chuck understand that she was just looking out for him because she loved him? But blaming Cole didn't take away all of the guilt. The truth was, she had over reacted. There was a much better way to get through to him, but she had taken the easy way out, like she always did. She had let her anger control her… and hurt the one person she was already so tired of hurting.

That's why what had happened this morning was so awful. All the good feeling that had been building this week vanished in an instant. Gone like your breath on a cold windy day. Chuck was in the right hand seat just a few inches away looking out the window. She could have easily reached out her hand and touched him. But it might as well have been miles. Sarah could clearly still see the look of betrayal on his face.

Had she really just blown her chance with him?

x-x-x-x-x


	11. The Reluctant Hero

_The reviews for this story, and more specifically the last chapter have been very interesting._

_About 70% of you think that Sarah is a bitch that emasculated him, treats him poorly, has sex with marks and not him, and basically sucks in general. You're absolutely right._

_About 25% of you think that Chuck is clueless, doesn't appreciate Sarah enough, is undeserving of her, and basically sucks in general. You're absolutely right._

_Hardly anybody has my view, that they both have serious flaws, make unforgivable mistakes, and need the other to be understanding in ways that most people don't get. And yet they truly love one another so much that at the end of the day, those horrible faults seem insignificant._

_And that doesn't touch on Ellie. The prevailing mood is that she is a slut who is about to betray her fiancé. Never mind the fact that as of yet, she has done nothing wrong._

_This is a love story. It is the story of love overcoming imperfections. Of people who were unsure of where they belonged in the world finding out… and making the choices that they will live with for the rest of their lives. And most likely not every choice will please you. Indeed, the characters themselves will regret things they've done._

_So certainly, keep the reviews coming. If something bothers you, say so. But don't expect perfection from any of the characters. Because, like real people, they are flawed. Sometimes they step up and do great things. Sometimes they make mistakes. They learn and grow. Otherwise the story would be boring, (almost as boring as this A/N, lol)._

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Reluctant Hero**

x-x-x-x-x

When they finally landed and got to the museum, everybody had calmed down substantially. Well, Ellie and Cole had calmed down anyway. They had clearly wordlessly agreed to let this morning's events go. If Sarah had been in a little better mood, she might have found it kind of cute to see Cole so enthusiastic about something. He was pouring over the details of the pyramids like Chuck would be pouring over the specs of a new computer. Not only that, he was sounding very much like the history professor that he apparently originally wanted to be, dragging them around the site pointing out interesting detail upon even more interesting detail. And if Ellie was at all pretending in her role as his star student, she was doing a great job. The smile on her face as she asked questions seemed genuine. Clearly they were having a great time.

Chuck and Sarah, not so much. Oh, it was an interesting trip, as far as it went. But they certainly weren't caught up in the minutia of details like Cole and Ellie so obviously were. Besides, Sarah's mind was on other things. She was pretty frantic trying to figure out Chuck's mood. Oh, that wasn't hard to determine. He was pissed. But how pissed? There was no way that she would be able to relax while he was still upset with her. The problem was that she really didn't know what to do. She knew that she had blown it big time as a girlfriend this morning. But her main advisor was most definitely otherwise occupied. She did remember Ellie's general advice, when in doubt, grovel. So she waited until Cole was in the middle of one of his impromptu lectures about some detail of fourth century Mayan civilization, and she grabbed Chuck's hand and pulled him away.

It was easy for Sarah to find a corridor where they were alone. After all, the place was full of them. She grabbed both of his hands so he would be forced to face her. "I need a big favor," she said hesitantly.

Chuck could tell that she was emotional and was likely looking to make up. But he still wasn't very happy with her. After all, his shoulder was still mighty sore. So he decided to make her work for it a bit. "What kind of favor?" he asked.

Sarah could tell by the coolness in his voice that he wasn't very happy. "Please just be honest with me," she said. "Have I blown it with you?"

Chuck really didn't know what she meant. So he just stared at her.

"I have, haven't I?" Sarah said, this time clearly close to tears. "Please tell me what I can do to make this up to you. I'll do anything you ask."

Now Chuck honestly thought that she must have been teasing him. This had to be an act. Sure, he was pissed. But come on. So he teased back. He narrowed his eyes as menacingly as he could without laughing. "Anything?" he asked. "I thought we had a no-sex rule?"

Sarah really didn't expect that response from him. Oh, from any other man she absolutely would have expected it. After all, she knew exactly what she was doing in the first place. That's why she said it like that. Whenever you told a man that you would do anything he asked you were pretty much putting your body at their disposal. It wasn't hard to figure out what they would ask for. She would never have told Bryce something like that. Because she didn't have to wonder what he would ask for. But Chuck? That was disappointing. So she just took a deep breath. "Would that do it?" she asked.

Now Chuck was simply confused. "Would what do it?" he asked. "Do what?"

"Get you to forgive me," Sarah said sadly. "Would sex be enough? Is there something specific you want? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

Chuck was getting a very bad feeling about this. "Sarah," he said, "are you being at all serious right now?"

She just nodded. "I can't blow it with you," she whispered.

"Okay," he said firmly. "We really have to talk. Do we really think that what we have is so tenuous that one fight could jeopardize it? Do I have to worry that the first time you get pissed at me that we're over?"

"Of course not," she said.

"Then why are you so worried?" he said. "Yes, I'm pissed at you right now. But we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. Do you really think that we're going to spend the next sixty years and never get pissed at each other? Given our personalities and history, that's not very probable."

Sarah shook her head.

"And is that what sex is to you?" he asked. "A commodity? A payment that you make when you screw up? Sarah, I'm dying to make love with you. But I never want sex because you feel you owe me something. That takes something that should be special, and makes it cheap."

Sarah, more or less, threw herself into his arms. "So," she said. "Am I forgiven?"

That got the grin that she had been missing all morning. "Maybe," he said. "Let's get back to what 'anything' means." Then his smile turned decidedly evil. "I'm dying to know, for future reference if nothing else."

Sarah let out a huge sigh of relief. "Well," she said with her own grin. "If you're taking away sex, you're kinda taking away most of the bullets out of my gun."

"I said I never want sex because you feel you owe me something," he said. 'I didn't say anything about sexy. That would be fine. I think I may have a scenario or two to bounce off you."

Sarah was far too relieved to put up any protest. Frankly, if there was anything that he could ask for that she wouldn't give him, she couldn't think of what it might be. "Okay," she said. "I can be sexy. Bounce away."

"I'm thinking three wishes," Chuck said. "Sort of like a genie."

Sarah thought about it… for a half second. "Deal," she said. "As long as you let me explain my side of what happened this morning first. Ellie's not here to help me, so I'll have to wing it on my own. Then I'll be your genie."

Responding to his nod, she began. "Look, Chuck," she said. "I fully understand that you're pissed at your girlfriend right now - and rightfully so. But the truth is we have a unique relationship. And actually that's not even true. The more accurate description is that we have two separate relationships. Sarah Walker has found the man that she is going to spend the rest of her life with. There is no question about that. And she's dedicated to try and make the future father of her children happy in any way that she possibly can. Agent Walker has an asset in mortal danger in a world that he doesn't understand. She will do absolutely anything to keep him safe. Do you understand the distinction I'm making?"

Chuck nodded.

"The truth is that those two relationships overlap," Sarah continued. "They shouldn't, but they do. And that's the main reason why Agent Walker should have never fallen for her asset. It confuses her sometimes. Because the things that Agent Walker should do to protect her asset and the things Sarah should do to show her guy how crazy she is about him sometimes conflict."

Chuck had no idea where this was going. So he just smiled.

"In my professional judgment, Agent Walker was totally justified in her actions this morning," Sarah said. "She saw her asset engaged in some potentially dangerous activity and she did what it took to impress upon him that he was not to do it anymore. She's not sorry about that in the least. She'd do the same exact thing again tomorrow if that's what it took to keep her asset safe."

Chuck laughed. "If this is your idea of making up…" he started. "I think maybe you should wait and talk to Ellie."

Sarah shared his laugh for a moment. But then she got serious. "But I'll admit, Sarah totally blew it on that beach this morning," she said. "I feel horrible. I should have found a better time and place to make my point. I hurt you and embarrassed you. I'm so, so sorry. I promise to try and do better in the future. You have every right to be pissed at me. I'd be grateful to be forgiven."

Chuck knew that she genuinely wanted to make up and really couldn't keep the harsh act up any longer. His lips curved unto his classic grin. "Sarah," he said. "What do I have to forgive you for anyway? For showing me how much I have to learn? You're making way too big of a deal about this. Yes, I was annoyed for a few minutes. Okay, I'll admit that I may have been a little distant on the plane. And sure, my shoulder is still sore. But come on. Couples have disagreements. In the grand scheme of things, this one was pretty minor. Let's not let it ruin our day."

Sarah was relieved, so relieved that she more or less collapsed into his arms again. There was the Chuck that she was expecting. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I know that I can be a bit overprotective. It's just… It's just…"

Chuck wrapped his arms around her and squeezed as much as his sore shoulder would allow. "I know," he said. "I understand exactly what it is. You care for me. You don't want to see anything bad happen to me."

"It's more then that," Sarah whispered. "Chuck, it terrifies me. If anything happened to you, I'd…"

"That's nice," Chuck said as he rubbed her back. "Sarah, trust me. You don't have to apologize for that. I love it how you get all mama lioness in my defense. You asked me the other night if I knew how you felt at some level, remember?"

Sarah nodded.

"That's how I knew," Chuck said. "You don't get that fanatical worrying about someone who is a job, only someone who you love. It told me much more than any words just how much you care."

Sarah smiled. Why did it not surprise her that Chuck had already figured it out? And yes, his use of the 'L' word came dangerously close to the edge of their unspoken agreement. But he was right. It was the only word that fit the situation. Even that was timid. The truth was, if he really knew how intensely she felt about him, it would probably scare him a little.

"It's just that sometimes you have to trust me a little," Chuck sighed. "I understand that spending a few hours a day working out with Cole isn't going to qualify me to fight a trained agent. I would never try unless I had no choice. But what does it hurt if I learn some basics? It might help someday. It can never hurt to get in shape, right? Besides, we have some time to kill every day while you and Ellie are off doing your thing. The alternative is to sit in the bar and have girls in bikinis send us drinks, well Cole mostly, but still. Wouldn't you prefer us working out?"

"I guess," Sarah said hesitantly. "It can't hurt to get in better shape… as long as it doesn't encourage you to take more risks. I want you to promise me. You already take way too many risks as it is."

"I promise to let you handle all of the bad guy butt kicking," Chuck said with a smile. "You're so good at it."

"Good answer," she said. "So, I believe that you have three sexy wishes coming. Lay them on me."

Chuck pretended to think about it for a long moment. He even took his hand and cupped his chin in a show of indecision. "Do you know what I think is sexy?" he finally asked thoughtfully. "Honesty. For my first wish, tell me with some level of specificity what Bryce would have asked for in this situation?"

The redness hit Sarah's face in record time. She really hadn't thought this through. Chuck was clearly taking it easy on her. He could have asked her anything, and there were some things that this wasn't the appropriate time or place to get into. But she had dared him. Yes, he knew damned well that she would be embarrassed by the question, but that was probably the point. And it would be unsporting to refuse.

Naturally, she knew that he was teasing her… but it was actually pretty impressive that he would want to hear and joke about an intimate situation between her and Bryce. Maybe he really was getting over that. That was a very good sign and actually made it easier for her to answer him. "That's easy," she said. "For one thing, I would never have volunteered to let Bryce get into this situation with me, because I know exactly what he would have demanded. He clearly doesn't share your aversion to using sex as a commodity. He would have found a broom closet in two minutes, had me pick the lock, and ten seconds later I would giving him… well I wouldn't be giving him sweeping lessons. You want specifics?" Then she leaned and whispered into his ear. "Specific enough?"

Now the redness was into Chuck's face in record time. "Yes," Sarah," he said. "That was definitely specific enough."

"Great," she said. "After all, I'm trying to be a good little genie."

Now Chuck was clearly uncomfortable… but he grinned and shyly asked the question anyway. "Are you ever going to give me sweeping lessons?"

That got them both laughing. "Yes, Chuck," she said. "If you're willing to be a little patient, I think you can count on eventually becoming a PHD in the art of sweeping. What's your second wish?"

"I remember one time in Castle," he said. "You were arguing with Casey after I didn't stay in the car. He said this wouldn't have happened if you had done the job they both know you should have. Your face got pretty red. What did he mean?"

If Chuck thought that her face was red before, it was more like purple now. She paused for a long moment. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" she asked. "It might be a little uncomfortable.

Chuck nodded.

"I was supposed to seduce you," she finally said. "I actually have a standing order to use sex to control my asset anytime I feel it's required. I've already taken a fair amount of heat for not having done it already. Would you be okay with that? Because if so, I'll make it happen. It would really help me professionally. Do you want to find a closet right now for a quickie? Or wait for tonight when I can seduce you properly?"

Chuck was stunned. "Wait a minute," he said. "Are you telling me that we've been lying in bed every night for the past week pulling our hair out? And all the while, we could have been making love anytime we want? Are you crazy?"

"Who said anything about making love?" Sarah asked with narrowed eyes. "It wouldn't be that at all. I'd be working. Agent Walker would be on a mission. She would be finding out how to control her asset. She'd become your fantasy girl. She'd spend the first several nights going through a battery of various sexual scenarios, things like different positions, activities, styles of foreplay, erotic stories, things like that. Then through observation she'd learn what her asset likes best in bed, what things arouse him the quickest, and how to always keep him wanting more. Then she'd use that information against you. She'd dole out those favorite things out to you as a reward when you behaved properly on missions. When you didn't, she'd tease you and let you burn unsatisfied. Eventually, she'd have you begging her to let you do anything she'd ask to get your next reward. This is all standard CIA procedure Chuck."

Sarah had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the stunned look on his face. "Fair warning," she continued, "be careful what you ask for. Agent Walker will do pretty much whatever you want when you behave properly, but she'll also have to make a full report to Beckman after every session. When we get back, all of your reward sessions will be closely monitored. She will surely review the first few surveillance tapes personally to make sure that you appear to be satisfied and judge the increase in control. Rumor has it that she's also something of a voyeur. If Agent Walker was ever replaced as your handler, your new handler would review all of those tapes and reports to be in a position to step in and assume the reward activities without disruption. Oh, and off the record, you should probably know that some of those tapes find their way back to the CIA Academy and are used in seduction training sessions. Don't worry. I'm sure nobody will be looking at your face."

Chuck's mouth fell open. Then he saw her eyes. "You're teasing me," he finally said in relief.

"I do hope your third wish is a little better than the first two," Sarah said with a grin. "After all, the next time we play this game, the three wishes are going to me mine. And based on what I've heard so far, I'd say my imagination is way more vivid than yours. I'd make this one something that you're going to remember for a while. Something that pushes the edge… the very edge."

"I think I sense that a challenge has been thrown down," Chuck said as his smile quickly turned into his classic grin. "The very edge… I may just be able to come up with a task for you tonight. Do you remember watching the movie True Lies? There's a pretty famous scene that maybe…."

Sarah smiled at how well she knew her guy. Of all the things he could ask for, that didn't come very close to the edge at all. She actually knew exactly the scene he was referring to before the words were totally out of his mouth. Since it had a spy theme, True Lies was one of the first movies that Chuck had picked out for then to watch together. They had seen it a few times. She had noticed Chuck was fixated by the scene in question the very first time they watched it… and every time after that. For a while, it even bothered her, until she realized how silly it was to be jealous of a movie.

What he didn't know was that he had just wasted a wish. She had already given a fair amount of thought about the right time to reprise Jamie Lee Curtis's strip tease scene for him just for fun. The idea came to her when he asked about being the first one to see her take off her bikini. That would be a very girlfriend-like thing to do, but this was even better. She had already bought the thong and matching bra the other day when she and Ellie were shopping for that very reason. There wasn't a stripper pole in their room like the scene from the movie but she had tested the bedpost that held up the canopy and it proved to be sturdy enough for her purposes. That would clearly impress him. She had even come up with a couple of wrinkles to throw in that Jamie Lee hadn't thought of… and even if she had, wouldn't ever make it into a movie.

After all, they had to live with the stupid no-sex rule for the time being, but why not go to the very edge of it? That would be fun for her as well. The only problem was he was going to be on fire after her performance. But then again, that was Chuck's problem wasn't it? Be careful what you wish for, sweetie.

Sarah shook herself out of her mini fantasy. "Now you're talking," she said with a smile. "Okay, so tonight is show time. If I do this, you have to promise me that you won't be sitting there thinking about Jamie Lee Curtis. After all, she's almost old enough to be your mother."

Chuck was surprised. She was actually considering this? "Sarah," he said softly. "I was just teasing. You don't ever have to do anything like that. That makes me feel like a pig."

How sweet was that? "I know," she said quickly. "You have nothing to feel guilty about here. We made a deal. I'm keeping my end. It's not because I have too. When it's me making the wishes, and it will be soon, I expect the same level of dedication."

"Fair enough," Chuck said. "Are you going to tell me about the other times that you had to control an asset?"

"Sorry big guy," Sarah said with a grin. "With the show you're getting tonight, you used up all your wishes. The genie is tired. She's off the clock."

His grin lit up the room. "You want to do this more than I want it," he said. "You're not fooling me. You want to see how crazy you can make me. Tell me I'm wrong."

Okay, so he had her there. But she also knew he was teasing her, and no matter how much she might have been looking forward to tonight, she couldn't let him win that easily. So instead of answering, she just stared for a long moment. "Wait a minute," she finally said with narrowed eyes. "Girls in bikinis have been sending you drinks? Why am I just hearing about this now?"

That got them both laughing. "Fair enough," he said. "I'll tell you what. One brief but intense make out session and we can end this discussion right here."

"Deal," she quickly said as she pressed her mouth to his. Whatever Chuck meant by intense, it definitely quickly escalated to that point. She wasn't so sure what he meant by brief. As usual she was willing to let him decide how long to go. Frankly, at that point she was content to stay there kissing him forever. Even taking a little stroll and finding that broom closet wasn't sounding half bad. So she just closed her eyes and allowed herself to melt into him.

"You two have got to be kidding me."

When Sarah opened her eyes, Ellie was standing there with her hands on her hips looking not at all happy. "Really?" she asked sarcastically. "Come on guys. In the middle of the pyramids? I think maybe I've created a monster here."

"Come on, Ell," Chuck said with a grin as they guiltily broke their embrace. "I thought that you were rooting for us."

"Okay, sure," Ellie ranted disgustedly as she herded them back to where Cole was standing. "So now, I suppose you're going to tell me that this is my fault. Yes, I've encouraged you to become an affectionate couple. But there is a time and place for that stuff. We're here in the middle of one of the natural wonders of North American civilization and you two sneak off like it's some High School field trip. That's just wrong. Besides, today is Cole's day. Is there something wrong with broadening your intellectual horizons a little? Couldn't you two possibly keep it in your pants for just a few hours? Like maybe until you're back in your room? And another thing…"

"She sounds just like Casey," Chuck whispered.

Sarah really didn't want Ellie to think that she was laughing at her. After all, she sounded genuinely annoyed. So she turned her head and pretended to cough to cover the laugh until she could gain control. "Sorry Ellie,' she said. "We'll be good." Then she turned back to Chuck and whispered in his ear. "For the record, I've never had to control an asset before. And if you think Jamie Lee drove you crazy, I'm going to drive you wild."

x-x-x-x-x

Finally they were done with the history field trip. But it had been pretty much an all day thing. After spending all morning in the Pyramids, they had taken a short break to eat the picnic lunch earlier that Ellie had packed from the resort. After all, she was adamant that they not eat or drink anything not bottled outside of the resort. Then it was back inside for a more in depth study. Now were sitting in a small cantina in an even smaller village that was about five miles away from the small airstrip where Sarah had landed. They still had an hour or so before the time they agreed to turn in the car they had rented so it was a good place to relax. Everybody except for Sarah had a beer. Since Sarah was getting ready to fly, she had bottled water.

Ellie was clearly embarrassed over the scolding that she had given Chuck and Sarah earlier and was trying to make amends. Sarah was just as clearly trying to give her friend a hard time about it. "So," she said thoughtfully as she sat her now empty bottle of water on the table. "Let me get this straight. You don't want Chuck and me to show affection. I'm a little confused. Aren't you the one that advised me to go jump on him? You were going to write me a prescription. Apply topically? Repeat dosage as needed? What happened to that?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Ellie said with a pained smile. "You know that I'm rooting for you two. It's just that there's a time and place. In that museum today wasn't the time or place."

Chuck just looked back and forth at the two most important women in his life sparring. He knew that he needed to keep his mouth shut. That even though they both looked annoyed, they were hopefully only teasing.

"What about now?" Sarah demanded, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "Would this be the proper time and place?"

"Maybe," Ellie said defiantly. The twinkle in her eyes said that she was plainly mounting a counter-attack. "But it's pretty public. I honestly don't think you have the guts."

Chuck's eyes went wide. Even he knew that was the wrong thing to say to Sarah. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to find out how graphic of a demonstration of PDA Sarah could be goaded into. As soon as he locked eyes on the two men coming through the door, the flash hit.

Ellie had never seen Chuck flash before. She immediately turned into doctor mom, not the one from the commercials, instead a real cross between his doctor… and mom. "Oh my God," she said. "Chuck, is something wrong?"

Sarah was much more experienced with flashing – but just as concerned. Whatever game she and Ellie had been just playing was now totally forgotten. She stopped Ellie's reaction with a single look and waited until she was sure that the flash was over. "Well?" was all she said.

"Really, really bad guys," was all Chuck whispered. But that was enough.

Cole was the first one to act. "This isn't the place to discuss this," he said softly. "Let's talk in the car."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah definitely had her Agent Walker game face on. As soon as the car doors were closed, she grabbed Chuck's hand. "Okay," she said. "Who are they?"

"The one I flashed on is Amado Carrillo Fuentes," Chuck said.

"Amado Carrillo Fuentes?" Cole interrupted. "Leader of the Juárez Drug Cartel? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Chuck said. "At least, the intersect is."

"Juárez," Ellie said, more to herself than anybody. "Wait a minute. They've been on the news for the past few days. Didn't they kidnap…"

"Yes," Cole interrupted again. "They are holding ten DEA agents. They set them up and grabbed them in the night. They are threatening to behead one of them a day until the U.S. releases three cartel members that were arrested."

"Okay," Sarah said. "I've heard enough. We need to get out of here. Cole, drive us back to the plane and I'll fly us back to the resort."

"Your people will have no idea where to look for these guys," Cole said. "We know where the leader is. He could lead us right to their hideout."

"No way," Sarah said. "These guys are too dangerous. We need to get Chuck and Ellie far away from here."

Cole looked around the car for a long moment. "Okay," he said. "I'll drive you back to the plane and then I'll come back and follow them. Sarah, I'll need your gun."

Both Ellie and Chuck immediately voiced wordless objections.

"Come on, Cole," Sarah said. "Yes, I understand what you're feeling. I'd like to help too. But our first obligation is to our assets. We need to get them out of here."

"Why can't we just call the police?" Ellie asked.

"It would be a waste of time, Eleanor," Cole said. "Any official within five hundred miles of here is already on their payroll. By the time any U.S. officers could get Mexican permission and make it here, he'll be long gone, faded back into the desert. If anybody is going to be in any position to follow them, it has to be before they leave that bar. I'd say I might have an hour to get in that position… tops."

"You can't do this alone," Chuck said. "You'd have no chance. They'll see you coming from ten miles away. There would just be eleven men beheaded instead of ten."

Cole set his jaw and looked out the window. "I have no choice," he said. "I'll have to risk it. I've been in tougher situations."

Sarah sighed. "What equipment do you have with you?" she asked.

"Not much," Cole said. "I have a couple of pairs of short range wires and earpieces in my bag. That's about it."

"Okay," Sarah said. I have a new prepaid phone that's never been turned on. I know Carina's private number. I'll call, brief her on the situation, and have her get together a DEA rapid strike force. There must be one standing by because of the situation. She can track my phone."

"What good would that do?" Chuck asked. "That would just lead Carina's force here. They'll be gone."

"I'll go back in there," Sarah said. "I'll get friendly with them and get them to take me home. I'll have the phone with me. They can track it."

Both Cole and Chuck said "no way," at the same exact time.

"There are two of them," Cole said. "A single woman looking like you do agrees to get in the car with two men that she just met in the middle of the Mexican desert? They'd make you for either a high price hooker or an agent right away. The first thing they would do after they had you a mile away would be to stop the car, strip, and search you. That phone wouldn't be with you for thirty seconds before they found it and threw it out the window. Neither would your clothes. And you wouldn't be alive for an hour after that. Maybe if Carina were here with the right equipment there might be something that you could do. They might buy two of you enough for you to go in there and get friendly enough to plant something on them. But you alone with nothing but a cell phone? No way in hell."

Sarah and Cole weren't having the friendliest of days anyway. They just looked at each other tensely for a long minute.

"I'll go with you."

Sarah just looked at her and faintly smiled. "That's pretty brave," she said. "But you don't understand these guys. You always see the good side in people, Ellie. That's because you're a good person. But these guys don't have a good side to see. Men like this are pure evil."

"I don't believe that," Ellie said with no hint of humor. "Nobody is pure evil. That's simply you being lazy. You don't want to look for the good. It's pretty convenient. It probably makes you sleep better after you have to shoot them."

"Okay," Sarah said with an even bigger smile. "Point taken. Pure evil might be a bit much. Maybe they love their mothers. They probably don't sit around and pull the wings off of flies or anything. But you don't understand the culture. Ellie, you're in my world now. I know what I'm talking about here. These guys are completely conditioned into taking what they want. There would be only one reason that those men would be interested in taking you home. I'll give you one guess what that is. And they might stay calm for a while, as long as they thought you were going to voluntarily give it to them. But trust me, the second they thought that you weren't, they would just take it… multiple times."

"She's right about that Eleanor," Cole said. "And once that started… they wouldn't stop while you were still alive. There would be no way for Chuck and me to fight our way in to get you. There would be too many of them."

Ellie was plainly getting agitated. "So what then?" she said. "We just let them go? We let them behead ten DEA agents? We stand by and do nothing while they flood the country with their drugs? We go back to our fancy resort and have a drink and listen to the band? I work in an inner city Emergency Room, Sarah. Every single night I treat kids strung out on those drugs. You haven't seen what I've seen. You've never looked into their eyes. You've never seen the hopelessness there. Please, there must be something we can do."

"Ellie," Sarah said softly. "Calm down. I appreciate what you're saying. I do. But this is not a game. It's an incredibly dangerous situation. You're not an agent. This is not your responsibility."

"Screw calm," she snapped angrily. "I'm a person. Do you have to be trained or have some bullshit title to do the right thing? This is what happens when good people turn their backs. It's time to take a stand. The hell with it. I'll go myself."

Cole might have been talking to Sarah, but he was looking directly into Ellie's eyes. "She's right," he said. "It's time to take a stand."

Sarah looked back and forth from Cole to Ellie. Something unspoken was happening, she just wasn't sure what. "Okay," she finally said with a sigh. "Look. Ellie, here's what I'll agree to do. First I'm going to call Carina and see what she wants us to do. It's very possible that they already have these guys under surveillance and are just waiting for a good time to attack."

Cole nodded. "That's a good point," he said.

"But if they want us to proceed, you and I will go back in there," Sarah continued. "When they offer, and they most likely will, we'll let them buy us a drink. We'll make it very clear that we're in serious relationships. We'll act like we're just waiting for our guys who went back to the museum to find a wallet. It's a sure thing that they'll offer to keep us company. We'll get friendly with them. Not flirting at all, just friendly. Even then, they are likely to see an opportunity. If they are interested, they are going to get pretty aggressive. They are probably going to ask that we dance with them. Ellie, men like this don't take no for an answer. They don't ask, they demand and their hands are going to quickly wander. It's important that you not encourage that in any way, but you also can't provoke them to anger. That would be the worst thing. These are very dangerous men, this is their element, and they believe they don't have any rules to follow. The most you can do is smile and mildly protest that you're with someone and really shouldn't be doing this. Unfortunately, they probably will interpret your tepid protest as a signal that you are really more willing than you're saying. That will cause them to get bolder. If they are going to try anything, they will try hard to separate us. If you end up in the back room without me, things are quickly going to get serious. His hands are going to be everywhere. You'll be able to say that you can't betray your boyfriend and probably get out of having to go too far, but it's going to be bad. Can you handle that?"

Ellie looked at Sarah skeptically. "Are you trying to scare me?" she asked.

"A little," Sarah admitted. "Hopefully it's not quite that bad. But Ellie, what I described is very possible. He could very possibly try and get you out of some clothes. You said that it's time to take a stand. Okay, I'm proud of you. But it also means you have to do whatever it takes to survive. Are you ready for that?"

Ellie stared for a moment, and then just nodded her head. "I'm a doctor," she said. "Lives are on the line here. I've taken an oath. What about you?"

"Don't worry about me," Sarah replied firmly. "I'm trained in how to handle these situations. You're the one who is vulnerable. You'll be able to stall for a while, but if it come down to it, you're eventually going to have to either give in a little, or abort. And you know what aborting means."

Ellie quickly nodded her head. "Ten agents get killed," she said. "That's unacceptable. Don't worry about me either."

"Anyway," Sarah continued, "once we've given the strike team whatever time they need to get in position, we'll pretend to get bored waiting. We'll ask our new friends for a ride back to our hotel. Of course there is no hotel. It wouldn't matter anyway because, even if there was, we'd never make it there. They'll surely agree because they'll think that they have us. Once we were in that car, there's no way they would take us to any hotel, at least not ours, and not without first paying their toll. The guys will be listening to us on the wire. You hang back a minute and let me go first. As soon as I get in the car, the guys will finally pull up. I'll leave the phone on and plant it in their car. They'll be disappointed, and we'll get out of town as quickly as possible. But Ellie, let's agree to one thing. Under no condition do you ever get in that car. I'm putting my foot down on that. Agreed?"

Ellie just looked sadly for a moment then sighed. "Agreed," she finally said.

"Ellie," Sarah said insistently. "I'm sorry for being so adamant about this but this is not a game. Things may not go exactly as we planned. But if you get in that car, you've completely lost any control of the situation. You're completely at their mercy. The very best possible outcome at that point would be that you would be required to do whatever he wanted in that back seat as many times as he wanted it until he got bored and agreed to let you go. It probably would get a lot worse than that."

"She's right about that, Eleanor," Cole said. "Please don't get in that car under any circumstances. I'm hoping they won't get overly aggressive in a public place. But with these guys, you never know. Sarah's right, they own any police that's within a hundred miles of here. Their rules are, they don't have any rules. If they insist on anything like you going to the back room with them, be careful. If it appears to be getting out of hand or gets to be more than you're willing to accept, just scream and we'll abort. I'll come in with guns blazing. At least we'll get to plant these two, including the head bastard." Then he turned to Sarah. "You need to call Carina right away." Then he reached over, grabbed Ellie's hand and looked directly into her eyes. "You're doing the right thing," he said. "You're one of the most amazing women I've ever known. You'll never know how proud I am of you. You're taking a stand."

Sarah was already dialing the phone when Chuck looked at her. "Wait a minute," Chuck said. "Don't I get a vote here? After all, it's my girlfriend and sister that we're pimping out."

Sarah didn't want to tell him the truth, that he really didn't have a vote. So she hoped it would be the right one. "I'm sorry, Chuck," she said with a sigh. "What's your vote?"

Chuck just looked at Ellie's determined face for a long moment. He knew that trying to talk her out of anything was pointless. Besides, he was proud too. Then he turned to Sarah. "Please be careful," he finally said. "You're not the only one who worries. Besides, I have a show waiting for me tonight. You're not getting out of it this easily."

Sarah grabbed Chuck and pressed her lips to his. Normally, such an overt showing of PDA would have embarrassed Chuck to no end. And it was definitely there somewhere. But he allowed their tongues to dance for a long moment.

That sort of broke the tension. In fact, Ellie's grin lit up the car. "See, you're learning," she said as soon as the long kiss broke. "There's a time and place for everything."

"Hey," Cole said in mock seriousness. "What about me? I worry too."

Ellie's grin got even bigger. "Sorry, big guy," she said. "Not my jurisdiction."

x-x-x-x-x


	12. The Matching Set

_Well, since we had a shout out to our old friend LeeCan earlier, it wouldn't be right to not say hi to some more of our old friends._

_GoChuckGo is one of the original Chuck fanfic authors. She is famous for having Chuck unconscious in her stories. So GCG, this head injury is for you, lol._

_The NorCali shout out is a tad more subtle. The old timers will get it._

_Guys, we miss talking. Yes, BrickRoad and I are actually writing a story together. Who'd have thunk it? We hope that you're well._

_We still don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The Matching Set**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah sat at their table nursing her beer. Of course, under normal circumstances she wouldn't have anything to drink this soon before flying, but this was anything but normal circumstances. Oh, in a lot of ways the situation was exactly what Sarah had predicted. She and Ellie had barely touched their first drink before Amado and his 'friend' Carlos sent them another round. It was easy to strike up a conversation. As a matter of fact, it wasn't five minutes before Amado and Carlos decided to join them.

Sarah was very cautious. Normally, she would have been flirty and suggestive in this situation to make sure that she got their attention. But today, that didn't seem to be much of an issue, she had Ellie with her, and she didn't want to encourage them into any more aggression than they were already showing - so she was playing it slow and easy. She was friendly, but she made it very clear that they were just waiting for their boyfriends to go back to the museum and look for a lost wallet.

She could tell by the look in Ellie's face that, even after Sarah's lecture in the car, she was surprised how aggressive the men were being. She clearly wasn't used to being hit on so strongly. Apparently they had no issue with overtly flirting with women they thought were with someone and simply sitting in a bar waiting for their boyfriends to return. And Ellie was clearly their type. Amado had already dragged her to dance, more than once. Carlos, on the other hand, was obviously content with the view he was getting down Sarah's shirt. She was actually starting to regret having unbuttoned that extra button in the first place. After all, his eyes hadn't left that spot for an instant.

But Sarah had bigger problems than whatever cheap thrill she was currently giving her new 'friend'.

First there had been the call with Carina. Naturally, everyone at the DEA was franticly trying to find their captured fellow agents. Sarah waited while Carina contacted her superiors about what to do on another phone. Apparently it wasn't five minutes before Carina's news had her bumped up the chain of command until she was participating in a conference call with the President himself. His orders were fairly unambiguous. Recovering the captured agents was a national priority and whoever this agent was who had stumbled across them was, she was to use any means necessary to assist the strike force that was in route.

There was some discussion that perhaps this unknown agent should attempt to seduce, agree to go home with, and thereby insure they could identify the bad guy's location. But finally it was agreed that plan could cause more problems than it solved, for really the same reasons that Cole had stated in the car. It was agreed that Sarah's plan of planting the phone in their car had the best chance of tracking their location without tipping them off. Carina promised that the force would be there within two hours. So she would need to stall them for that long.

That was actually Sarah's worst case scenario. That meant that her, and especially Ellie, would have to fend off their ever more aggressive behavior for two whole hours, or at least as much of that as possible. And it was already more than Sarah had hoped, especially for Ellie. Amado had clearly taken a liking to her.

The first hour actually wasn't all that bad. The men plainly thought they were being clever talking between themselves. They knew that a lot of Americans understood at least some Spanish, especially ones who would visit Mexico. So they used Portuguese. Naturally Sarah pretended not to understand a word.

Their intentions were fairly clear from the start as they rather crudely discussed which of the girls would look best naked and which one had the biggest chest. That led to a brief but intense discussion about the odds that Sarah was a natural blonde… and how to best go about proving it one way or another. That quickly deteriorated into an argument over which one of them could get his 'date' to go the farthest the fastest.

Their strategy may not have been all that innovative, but it had certainly passed the test of time. They started insisting that everybody drink shots of tequila. Sarah really wasn't worried… about herself. After all, it wasn't the first time that some guy had tried to get her drunk. Part of being a spy was learning how to handle drinking. Ellie on the other hand was starting to show some effects after that third shot in the past half hour. So Sarah found an opportunity to drag her into the ladies room.

"How are you doing?" she asked in a hushed tone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ellie sighed. "Shots of tequila aren't my favorite, and I could do without him pressing up against me on the dance floor, but it's not too bad. How about you?"

"Don't worry about me," Sarah said with a laugh. "I'm an expert at this. Besides, they clearly prefer you."

"What language are they speaking?" Cole's voice came crackling in her ear. "I can't understand a word."

"Portuguese," Sarah replied. "They must realize we'd understand Spanish."

"What's the bottom line?" he asked.

"There is some good news," Sarah replied, "and a bit of bad news. They aren't expecting anything other than some necking to happen, at least not yet, and not here in the bar."

"I assume that was the good news," Cole said. "What was the bad news?"

"Well," Sarah said, "They already know that we're afraid of making them mad. Amado obviously is making it a game of using that to see how far he can get with Ellie. He just bet Carlos one hundred thousand pesos that he could take her in the back room and in twenty minutes come out with her bra in his pocket."

"Really," Ellie said with a grin. "Twenty minutes? That's pretty fast. He must be a real smooth talker. How much is that in dollars?"

"About eight thousand," Sarah said with her own smile. "He's not a smooth talker. He just thinks you're afraid to stop him. Then, not to be outdone, Carlos bet him another hundred thousand that he could find out if I am really blonde."

"Are you?" Then Ellie grinned at her surprised look. "Come on sweetie, your eyebrows are pretty dark."

Sarah just grinned back and ignored the question. "If we go back out there, I'm afraid you're almost surely going to have to let him win," she said. "Do you want to abort? You're doing great but we have over thirty minutes to go. A lot of things can happen in thirty minutes."

"I don't know," Ellie said in mock seriousness. "I'm really torn. This is my newest bra. I just bought it the other day and I really like it. I hate to think about losing it to some drug runner. I mean, what's he going to do with it? And just to save the lives of ten agents who I've never met? That seems a little on the harsh side to me. Do you think that Carlos is good for the hundred thousand pesos?"

"Probably," Sarah said with a short laugh. "If you're looking for someone to stiff on a bet, I'm thinking that Amado Carrillo Fuentes is probably a really bad choice. And it's going to be two hundred that he owes. There is no way that I'm proving to him that I've always been blonde… or to you, by the way. Don't worry about the bra. You haven't been wearing one half the time anyway. If it makes it any better, once we get back to the resort I'll take you shopping for another one."

Ellie gave Sarah a sideways look… but then she laughed. "That's true," she said. "Well I guess we're going to have to find out if Carlos made a good bet."

"There's something else," Sarah said. "Cole, when Ellie was dancing, Carlos made a phone call. There are a couple of men that are going to wait for you on the edge of town and make sure you're delayed a bit."

"A robbery?" Cole asked. "Or something else?"

"Probably," Sarah said. "I could only hear one side of the conversation so I'm not totally sure. They were told to just buy them some time. I don't think they are looking to kill you or anything. Maybe Carlos is hoping that he can get me in the back room and win his money back. Or maybe Amado just wants some more time to see if he can get Ellie's panties in his other pocket."

"He might as well have them," Ellie sighed. "They go with the bra. They're a matching set."

"Well, that's good to know," Cole said as he laughed. "So was that part of the good news or part of the bad news?

Sarah still wasn't all that happy with Cole from this morning, so her response was a little sharper than it normally would have been. "Your only job is to take care of Chuck," she said insistently. Then she turned back to Ellie. "Okay, Ellie," she said softly. "I know that we were teasing earlier but there is no shame in not wanting to submit to twenty minutes of necking with some gangster that you just met while he's groping you. I wouldn't want to do it either. I completely understand that you don't want to have to tell Devon that you allowed some creep to take your shirt off in a bar, but, I'm afraid that's what we're down too. If you want to abort, now is the time. Nobody will think any less of you."

Ellie sighed. Come on, Sarah," she said. "Don't pretend that you're not dying for me to do this. In case you hadn't noticed, I know you pretty well, maybe better than you know yourself. There's almost nothing you wouldn't do to save ten agents. You'd do this without question. We both know that's true."

"Please don't do this for me," Sarah said. "Okay, yes, given what's at stake, I would do it. But I still wouldn't be crazy about having to tell Chuck about it."

At the mention of Chuck, Ellie actually grinned. "I'm not worried about Devon at all," she said. "You don't know him like I do. If he was standing here, he'd be the first one telling me to do whatever I felt was the right thing and not to worry about him. My fiancé is a lot more secure than yours is… but then again, almost every woman's fiancé is more secure than yours is."

"You've got me there," Sarah grinned. But then she remembered his first wish from the genie earlier in the museum… and suddenly felt the urge to stick up for him. "But actually, he's getting a lot better. He's really trying hard. And given the circumstances he's had to deal with, I think we both should ease up on him a bit. I'm very proud of him."

Ellie's grin grew even bigger. "You really are hopelessly lovesick, aren't you?" she asked with a laugh. "It's even worse than I thought. See, I told you, you have to get right back on that horse. When you've got that going for you, being forced to allow a strange man to see your chest for a minute seems pretty insignificant, doesn't it?"

All Sarah could do was nod. Ellie was right… on both counts. That she was hopelessly lovesick was so clearly true that any denial would be silly. Besides, in spite of the ridiculous situation they were currently in, it still was a great feeling. But she also had to get Ellie through this. "Yes," she said softly. "It does. But don't get cocky on me. It's not going to be a minute, it's going to be twenty minutes. And he is going to do a lot more than just look. He's going to go as far as he thinks he can. You can't lose focus."

"Yes, mom," Ellie said. "It feels good to lecture someone, doesn't it? Now you know why I do it so often."

"I think I'll leave the lectures to you," Sarah replied. "Remember this line. I'm with someone and I really shouldn't be doing this. That's your stall line. Repeat it over and over and over with every move that he makes. Every time he kisses you, every button he opens, bite your lower lip like you're feeling guilty and tell him that you're confused. Take some time telling him that he makes you feel a little naughty. Men eat that crap up. He's going to take the full twenty minutes back there no matter what happens before he comes out and brags to his buddy that he won. The more of that time you can waste with your shirt still on, the less time he'll have to go farther."

Ellie's grin never faded as she smiled and nodded. "I don't suppose that having a headache would work," she joked. "That only works with boyfriends and husbands."

Sarah quickly wrapped her arms around her. "Ellie, I'm so proud of you," she whispered. "But don't be a martyr. If he crosses the line or gets the very least violent, abort."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah sat and waited, not so patiently, for Ellie to come out of that back room. She had a pretty good idea what was currently happening back there. After all, Ellie was pretty defenseless. When you didn't want to anger a man like Amado, especially when he suspected that was the case, you didn't have much going for you. Your only real option was to give in as slowly as he would allow you too. And patience wasn't one of his strengths. Sarah had tried to stall for her a bit by smiling at Amado herself and asking him to dance, but he wasn't having any of it. He was clearly into brunettes. "Just like Chuck," she sighed to herself. Although that really didn't explain Jamie Lee Curtis.

Then there was the fact that she hadn't heard a word in her ear from Cole in a long time. That was actually freaking her out a little more than Ellie was. After all, what Ellie was currently going through might be unpleasant, but as long as she didn't do something like panic and try to fight him off, she wasn't really in much imminent danger. But she knew that Carlos's friends had been instructed to delay Cole and Chuck for as long as possible. At the time, she didn't think anything about that. After all, Cole could certainly defend himself against a simple ambush, especially when he knew it was coming. But after a while, she began to have doubts. Then she started to come to the edge of panic. She had to call on her training to focus on the situation.

And of course she had her own problems. Carlos had insisted that she dance with him a couple of times. And yes, he didn't allow much air to rest between their chests. But it wasn't anything that she hadn't endured many times in clubs. He clearly was waiting for the backroom to be free for his own exploration. Until then he was, more or less, content with the view.

Finally they were back, right on time. The twenty minutes were up exactly. Sarah didn't have to see Ellie, the smirk on his face told her clearly who had won the bet. Actually, Ellie didn't look too bad. Her clothes and hair were a little disheveled, but her look was still calm, determined but calm. That's when all hell broke lose.

"We've got problems out here," Cole's voice suddenly rang in her ear. "Either pull the trigger in the next two minutes or abort."

That pretty much confirmed Sarah's panic. They were a few minutes early, but Cole sounded adamant. So she turned to Carlos, who was trying to lead her to the back room, and put on her most seductive smile. "I have a better idea," she said. "I'm tired of waiting here. Why don't you guys take us back to our hotel and we'll relax in the hot tub? I've been looking forward to wearing my new bikini all day."

"What about your boyfriends?" Carlos asked.

"They'll eventually figure it out," Sarah replied with her sexiest pout. "They left us here all alone for hours. It serves them right to look for us for a while."

"Actually," Amado said. "I'm looking forward to you not wearing your new bikini. I can't tell you how much."

Sarah inwardly groaned. How predictable was that line? Did men really think that was clever? But she looked him directly in the eye. "That might happen too," she said with a smile. "After all, it would serve our guys right, wouldn't it? And besides, I'm pretty drunk." Sarah didn't mind the fact that she had just clearly made him a promise in his mind, one that he had every intention of holding her too. Either the plan was going to work, or she was going to kill him. Sarah had to admit, she wasn't totally sure which she was rooting for.

But actually, Sarah's plan worked like clockwork after that. She was right, they fell over themselves trying to get then into that car. Ellie improvised and left her purse in the bar so she had to go back in and get it. That allowed Sarah more than enough time and distraction to plant the phone.

Just as Ellie was coming back out of the bar, Cole finally pulled up. The men were clearly surprised. After all, they expected their team to give them more time. And they were most definitely disappointed. But there was really nothing they could do short of starting a fight. And one look at Cole's biceps quickly ended that thought. So the girls quickly hopped in the car and Cole wasted no time getting out of Dodge. Sarah grabbed her gun from where she had hidden it under the seat and carefully looked for any sign they were being pursued… but there thankfully wasn't any.

As soon as they were out of sight, he stopped the car. "Eleanor," he said urgently. "Trade places with Sarah. Chuck is hurt."

Sarah had been so keyed up looking to make sure they weren't being followed that she didn't think much about Chuck. When she actually looked at him for the first time, he was slumped in a corner of the seat. "Oh my God, Ellie," she cried. "He's unconscious."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was inwardly shaking so badly that she could barely get the plane in the air. The very second she could, she turned on the autopilot and slumped in her seat. "How is he?" she asked, afraid to turn around herself and look at him.

Ellie could see the shape she was in and frankly wasn't sure who she was more concerned for. So she tried her best to be reassuring. "I think he's going to be okay," she said. And he actually had started to regain consciousness a little as they were loading him into the plane.

Sarah finally turned around to look at him slumped in the back seat next to Ellie. "He sure as hell doesn't look okay," she snapped. "He looks dead."

"Sarah," Ellie said as calmly as she could. "You're simply going to have to calm down a little. All of his vitals are great. Every indication is that he's going to be fine. He was starting to wake up. I really don't want that to happen until we can get him someplace more comfortable so I gave him a shot. When will we be back?"

"About an hour," Sarah said.

"Good," Ellie said. "What I gave him will last for a couple of hours. It will be good if he's in bed when he comes too. He's going to have a headache for a while. He has a small cut on his abdomen that will need a couple of stitches. It looks like he has some bruises. But, all in all, I'd say he's pretty lucky."

"Lucky?" Sarah asked sarcastically. Then she turned to Cole. "What the hell happened back there," she basically screamed. "You were supposed to be protecting him."

Cole knew that she was on the edge, so he was very careful not to agitate her any more than necessary. "I did my best," he said softly. "There were four of them. By the time I could get to him, he had taken quite a few blows. He actually held his own against two of them for a lot longer than I thought he would. You should be proud of him."

"He's not supposed to be holding his own," she said sadly. "That's my job. I let him down."

Ellie reached up and grabbed Sarah's arm. "Sarah," she said as calmly as she could. "You're panicked. I really don't want to give you anything. For one thing, you've been drinking. For another, you're the only one who can land the plane. So you really need to calm down for me. Listen to me, sweetie. This is not your fault. And he's going to be fine. He'd be awake now except for the drug. In two hours, he'll be back with us, more or less good as new."

x-x-x-x-x

Finally they had Chuck in his bed. If anyone noticed Cole carrying Chuck, they didn't say anything. Apparently, the sight of someone carrying his passed out friend wasn't all that uncommon of an occurrence at this particular resort.

As soon as Cole had him lying on the bed he sighed. "I'm going to go down to the bar and have a drink," he said. "Maybe even two. It's been a long day."

Once she was convinced that Chuck was going to be okay, Sarah settled down a lot. As he was leaving, Sarah grabbed his hand. "Look," she said. "Cole, I'm really sorry. Nothing that happened today was your fault. I'm sorry that I've been such a bitch to you. Thank you for saving my guy."

Cole just smiled at her. "You have nothing to be sorry about," he said. Then he turned his smile towards Ellie. "And you, Dr. Eleanor Bartowski, are a true national hero. I'm so proud of you that I might burst. I'm going to have to find someone at the bar who is too drunk to remember so I can boast about you."

Even though Ellie had just stood virtually naked in front of a complete stranger just a couple of hours ago, she now blushed for the very first time today. "Thanks," she said with a grin. "I'm going to sit here with Sarah until Chuck wakes up, make sure he's okay, and then I'll go back to the room. I'll see you there."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah had calmed down, but she was honestly beginning to get a little concerned again. Ellie said that he would be sleeping for two hours, that was now up, and he had shown no sign of waking up. Just to get her to settle down, Ellie took her light and looked into his eyes again. "Sweetie," she finally said as she turned to her. "He's going to be fine. He's only sleeping now because of the drug. And actually, the longer he sleeps, the better he's going to feel when he does wake up."

Sarah decided that maybe she should trust the judgment of the only doctor in the room and finally sat down on the couch with Ellie to watch the Cable News channel. They were just sitting there silently relaxing when the first breaking news flash hit.

_Reports are currently sketchy but we're getting word of a massive raid that was just executed to recover the ten federal agents that were captured two days ago. Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity are telling us that all ten appear to have been rescued. Reports from our correspondents are now pouring in. Of course, we're going to be all over this story. We're getting more information by the second. Stay tuned to…_

It took a long moment for what she had just heard to sink in. "Oh my God," Ellie whispered. "We did it."

Sarah just smiled.

"That was us," Ellie said. "Wasn't it?"

"Well," Sarah said. "Not really."

She responded to Ellie's confused look by wrapping her in a bear hug. "It wasn't us," she said. "It was you. I was going to leave, remember?"

"Come on, Sarah," Ellie said as she tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "What did I do? I just let some creep take off my shirt."

Sarah smiled. "Just what do you think agents do anyway?" she asked. "You used the only weapon that you had available to stall the leader of one of the world's largest drug cartels. You just stood toe to toe with one of the most dangerous men in the whole world and allowed a task force the time it needed to get in position to track his movements and attack him. You just, pretty much single handedly, saved the lives of ten brave men. Not to mention the hundreds of kids who might have OD'ed or died doing their filthy drugs. I don't think I've ever been as proud of anyone in my life. You're a national hero."

Ellie opened her mouth to speak… but no words came.

"Do you want to talk about it?' Sarah softly asked. "Sometimes it helps."

"It really wasn't that bad," Ellie finally said. Then in response to Sarah's look, she smiled. "I didn't mean that," she said. "Yes, of course, he was an absolute pig. It was actually a little worse than you predicted. He was pretty demanding… and he clearly knew that I wouldn't stop him. I had already made up my mind that whatever he demanded back there, I would just do it. Thank God he didn't go farther. Fortunately he mostly stayed above my waist."

Sarah smiled at her friend. "So which part wasn't so bad?" she asked.

Ellie sighed. "I just meant…" she started haltingly. "I… I… God, I feel like such a slut for even saying it. But the truth is I really didn't mind it so much. I felt like it was some other person in that room not me. And to be completely honest, I kinda enjoyed the power I had over him. In fact, at the end, I was more in charge than he was. I… Sarah, I liked that. Is that wrong?"

"It's not wrong at all," Sarah said as she hugged her. "It's really pretty typical. A lot of agents feel that way."

"Is that how you feel?"

"Not me," Sarah quickly said. "Not really. For me, it was always about the job. But a lot of agents enjoy the control that they have over men. You get to play a role, and you get to tell yourself that you're doing it for the greater good. Casual sex without any guilt, it's a big reason a lot of women become agents in the first place."

"Sarah," Ellie said. "You've done this before. I mean, of course you have. How far have you gone? Is it exciting? It must be at some level, right?"

Sarah just looked for a long moment. "Ellie," she finally said. "You're more my sister than my best friend. I can't imagine being closer to another person, or loving them any more than I do you. There is nothing that you could ask me that I wouldn't tell you. But I really want Chuck to be the first one I tell about the specifics of the things I've done with other men as an agent and how I felt about it. And I'm really not quite ready to do that just yet. Please don't be offended, but can we wait and have this conversation some other time?"

Ellie just smiled and nodded. "Of course," she said. "I'm not offended at all."

"But I will tell you that a lot of women find it incredibly exciting," she said. "Nobody enjoys it all the time. After all, sometimes the guy is just plain icky. I'd say most agents' attitude is that as long as they have to do it, why not make the best of it? They look to enjoy it as much as the situation will allow. And frankly, some of them look for excuses to use sex when other methods would work just as well or even better and go farther than they really have too. A large part of training is when not to use sex. They go over that as much as when to use it. I'm probably an exception in my attitude about it. I've never enjoyed that part of the job, and I look to do it as little as possible. But you should hear the way they talk about it when they get together. I was in a team of four women agents for a few years so I've heard pretty much every story you can imagine. If you think men can be crude, some of what they brag about would make a pro blush. It's like being in a locker room… on steroids."

Ellie actually jumped up and pumped her fist. "God, I feel fantastic," she said. "Why do I feel so great?"

"Do you know what endorphins are?" Sarah asked with a grin. Then she responded to her skeptical look. "Sorry, stupid question. I forgot who I was talking too for a second. Neurology is your specialty, isn't it? But you currently have about a billion of them coursing through your veins. It's called hero high. There is a technical name that I can't remember. But all agents get it after a really successful mission."

"It's why you and Bryce Larkin hooked up," Ellie said with a sly grin. "Isn't it?"

Sarah spent an uncomfortable moment glancing at Chuck. She wanted to make sure he wasn't awake. "Pretty much," she finally admitted. "You get so keyed up that you look at each other, and just start tearing each other's clothes off. Then ten minutes later you look over at him and think, _why on earth did I just do that? Now he's going to think that I'm in love with him or something_. Then you sneak off and find some reason to put your clothes back on so he can't see you naked. It's an odd feeling."

"I've never felt that," Ellie admitted. "It must be fantastic to be so excited that you just start tearing each other's clothes off, that you would do almost anything to get the release of that passion."

"Maybe," Sarah said. "I'll not deny that there is a rush of excitement. A lot of women that I've talked too live for that moment. But it's actually pretty funny." In response to Ellie's confused look, she smiled sadly. "Do you know what I think must be fantastic?"

Ellie just shook her head.

"To get ready for bed knowing that you're about to slowly and patiently give yourself totally to someone who truly loves you and who you truly love, while at the same time he's slowly and patiently giving himself totally to you," Sarah said with a longing in her voice that Ellie had never heard before.

"And ten minutes after it's over to look at him and know that you've just told the love of your life, in a way that words never could, what he means to you," Sarah continued softly. "Sure, you might not have any clothes on, but you don't in any way feel naked. You love the fact that looking at you arouses him. You didn't do it because it was your job or you were obligated in some way. In fact, you didn't even really do anything. It just happened on it's own, because you love him more than anything in the world. There's nothing you wouldn't do for him. And you know that he's just gotten as much enjoyment out of giving you pleasure as whatever you've done to him. And then to lie there in bed next to him catching your breath, knowing with absolute certainty that you're going to do the same exact thing again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next month, and the next year, and just maybe… again in ten minutes. Then someday, when you're both ready, know that one of those times will be creating a new person, someone that will be the best of both of you, someone you can mold together, someone who will carry on after you're gone."

Ellie was stunned at the vulnerability in her voice. All she could do was look at her. "Sweetie," she said softly. "That was beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen someone as lovesick as you are. But what are you waiting for? He's been lying right there for the past year waiting for you. You don't still have any doubts, do you?"

Sarah opened her mouth but was struggling to get the words out without her voice breaking. So she just shook her head. Finally she had to haltingly whisper.

"Zero doubt... But not yet... Someday, hopefully soon..." Then she finally regained her composure. "I can't wait," she said with a sad smile. "You don't know how lucky you really are…"

"I've never felt that."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was just starting to stir. He was somewhere in that zone where you weren't quiet sleeping, but not conscious either. When he finally opened his eyes, he was staring at an angel, a blonde angel. And the smile on her face, wow. Chuck had never seen her smile like that before.

"Hello, sleepyhead," she said. "Welcome back. How do you feel?"

Chuck looked over at Ellie. If he thought that Sarah's smile was big, Ellie was literally dancing around the room. At first, he was a little concerned. If they were this happy, he must have been out for a while. He must really be hurt. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

Ellie immediately understood what Chuck was thinking and instantly corrected him. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said. "You haven't been out long. Just a couple of hours. That's not why we're happy."

"Well," Sarah said with a grin as she leaned down to gently kiss him before getting up to allow Ellie to examine him. "That's not the only reason anyway."

"So why?" Chuck asked groggily.

"We've been sitting here watching the news reports," Sarah said. "Our plan worked. The task force rescued all ten of the DEA agents and captured virtually the entire cartel, including Amando."

Ellie sat on the bed long enough to look briefly into his eyes with her light, and then gently rustle his hair. "We're national heroes, sweetie," she said. "Can you believe it?"

Sarah leaned over to bump shoulders with Ellie. They were clearly giddy. "I wonder," she said in mock seriousness. "Do you think that they recovered your bra?"

Ellie grinned back. "I sure hope so," she said. "I love that thing. After all, it was a matching set." Then she turned back to Chuck. "Maybe you can settle something for us, sweetie," she said. "There seems to be some disagreement between certain drug runners about if our lovely Sarah here is a true blonde. Can you settle that for us?"

Chuck was shocked. Well, it was more like mortified. "How would I know?" he asked. "And even if…" His voice trailed off as he realized by the laughing that he was caught in the middle of two best friends playfully teasing each other.

"Well," Sarah huffed in mock offense. "At least Chuck might have the chance to find out someday."

"Maybe he'll tell you."

x-x-x-x-x

Carina Miller truly thought she was doing a good thing for one of her dearest friends. After all, you didn't stay partners with someone as long as she had been in the CAT Squad with Sarah Walker without becoming friends, or at the very least, trusting that they had your back. And Sarah always had her back.

Okay, so they had the friendly rivalry thing going. Sure, she had tried to seduce that guy she was seeing. But that was more for information than for sex. And, of course, that was Carina's preferred method of gathering information. For Sarah Walker to fall that hard for a man, and a civilian at that, was unheard of. Was it so wrong to want to find out why?

The fact of the matter was that Sarah could have been with almost any man she chose. They were standing in line to take a shot at her. Carina had lost track of the number of men that she had tried to fix her up with. But she was never interested. Oh, she did her job, and when her job called for her to be sexy, she was simply the best. But outside of the job? She was the female version of a monk. She clearly preferred kicking a bad guy in the head over taking a good one to bed. Honestly, Carina had more than once questioned her preferences.

So what was it about this Chuck dude that had her so weak in the knees? Okay, he wasn't butt ugly, but he wasn't dashing either. And she had that seemingly endless supply of dashing men patiently waiting in line for their shot. She could spend the next couple of years giving each a single night's trial without having a repeat. A single night audition to impress her with the heights of romance they could inspire, and if that went well, perhaps allow them a chance to prove how dedicated they were to pleasuring her. There is no question but that they would have all gladly accepted the challenge. That's certainly what Carina would have done in her shoes. So why was Sarah so lovesick?

But she clearly was.

It didn't seem right. Why shouldn't Sarah and this Chuck guy get the recognition that they deserved? After the smashing success of this rescue mission, the administration would be falling over themselves bragging about it to the whole world. And it was Sarah's skill that got them this chance. Yes, she was off the grid. But to the President? One thing was for sure, when the President of the United States called to thank you, you took the call.

"Thank you, Mr. President," she said in her most business like voice. After all this wasn't the time or place for the flirty sexpot persona that she usually portrayed. "That's very kind of you, sir. I'm glad that I could help."

"Yes, sir. But I would also like to make sure you know who the real hero is here. None of this would have been possible if my friend hadn't recognized him."

"Yes, sir. Her name is Sarah Walker."

Unfortunately for everybody involved, the President already knew the name. He couldn't quite put his finger on how he knew that name, until his Chief of Staff reminded him of the intersect project. Then he quite clearly remembered who she was.

It was a euphoric night at the White House. The political benefits of the smashing success of the rescue and subsequent crushing of one of the world's largest drug cartels were immeasurable. But you didn't become President by letting a success, even one as impressive as this one, to allow you to grow complacent. So he called for a briefing on the status of the war with Fulcrum. Quite frankly, he didn't like what he heard. He didn't like it at all. It was time for some changes. Indeed, it was time for him to get more personally involved.

It's funny how life works. A seemingly random act leads to another. And that one leads to yet another. And finally lives that were seemingly destined for one path are suddenly turned to a completely different one.

Yes, Carina Miller thought she was doing a good thing for her friend. And ultimately, in a round about way, she was right. But what she didn't realize was that wheels were now set in motion. And those wheels would soon change lives. If Carina had realized what turmoil her actions would cause, she would have kept her mouth shut. Sarah Walker, Chuck Bartowski, and by association everyone who they loved were now about to follow a different path.

Forever.

x-x-x-x-x


	13. No Intention of Being Fair

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**No Intention of Being Fair**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was lying there in the dark watching the continuous coverage of the rescue. It was the type of story that the twenty-four hour cable news networks lived for. And they attacked it with their usual overkill. Ellie had left a while ago. Of course, before she left she ran him through a fairly exhaustive examination, made him walk around the room, and then had him get ready for bed. Then she kissed him on the cheek, gave Sarah a final hug reassuring her that he was fine, and left a couple of vicodin in case he needed them later.

He really wasn't feeling all that badly. The cut on his stomach took three stitches but the Novocain hadn't worn off yet. There was some soreness where he was bruised but nothing that he wasn't becoming accustomed too. His head hurt a little but not too badly. All in all, it wasn't that bad. Maybe he could even parlay this into a little babying from his new girlfriend. After all, it worked with Ellie when they were kids. And she was apparently in a very good mood.

But when Sarah came out of the bathroom, for a moment Chuck didn't believe his eyes. As she clicked off the television and climbed into bed, there could be no doubt. She was wearing her flannel pajamas.

"Umm, Sarah," he started cautiously.

"That's right," she snapped. "They're still ridiculous. Thanks for forcing me into wearing them.

Chuck was confused. "Me?" he asked. "Why am I forcing you?"

"You're being punished."

"Punished?" he asked incredulously. "Why am I being punished?"

"You let me think that you were dead," Sarah snapped. "Chuck, we've talked about this. I never want to think of you being dead."

"Okay," Chuck said softly. "But this wasn't my fault. I was attacked by two men. I didn't have a choice."

"So?" Sarah said. "What's your point?"

"I don't think it's fair that I be punished," he said.

"Maybe," Sarah admitted as she turned off the light and rolled away from Chuck and as far away from him as she could get and not fall off the bed.

"But you're talking about fair," she said. "I have no intention of being fair."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie took a deep breath as she braced her hands on the sink. The bag at her feet haunted her. Like Sarah, she had her own decision to make regarding sleepwear. It was the same decision she made on her first night with Cole. But that night had turned out fine. She'd grabbed the oversized t-shirt, and he had politely averted his eyes.

It was different now. After spending the past week or so with him, her opinion of him had completely flipped around. Where once she saw a macho spy who was not all that bright, she now saw a good friend, someone who was not only as intelligent as anyone she knew, but would go to great lengths to protect those he cared for.

But it was times like this that made her wish that she still viewed him as just a big bad spy, someone who was there for protection instead of comfort, because this friendship was beginning to take a toll on her. She used to be so certain. She was always that girl who had everything in order. Forced into taking on adult responsibilities when she was much too young, she had learned early on the value of stability. The night their mom had left, she'd decided she wouldn't ever be like that. She would be a good sister, a good daughter, a good person.

Since then, she'd been on the straight and narrow. Getting herself through med school and looking after Chuck kept her from really having a life. It'd never bothered her, because it was what she wanted, it was what she knew. Now though . . . she'd caught a glimpse of the sort of life she'd been missing all this time, the sort of life Chuck had stumbled into and found to be such a perfect fit for him.

Devon was perfect, in all sorts of ways. From the very second that she first saw him, she knew they were destined. He was kind, sweet to her brother, intelligent, fun, and he loved her. They were happy together. They were engaged, which was something she had envisioned in her life plan but had never dreamed would give her so much happiness.

But their relationship, as great as it was, was completely safe. Devon was the kind of guy who would take care of her, who would put their family first and make sure they never wanted for anything.

Cole, though, he was something new. He was like the first taste of freedom to a woman who never even knew it existed before his arrival. She'd seen throughout the years that people who were wrong for you seemed more exciting than the ones who were right, but she felt like Chuck now, faced with a choice between two lives. And yes, she fully realized that she was still on the cloud of euphoria from today's mission.

Today's mission… she allowed the words to fully sink in. Ellie Bartowski on a mission. To say that she was proud of herself was silly understatement. She and Sarah had just watched the coverage. They watched scene after scene of wives and mothers and daughters being interviewed, of them sobbing in relief as they got the great news that the husbands and sons and fathers they had all but given up hope on were now safe. And it was in large part because of her. And to do it, she had just gone about a hundred miles outside of her comfort zone. There was so much adrenaline coursing through her veins that she never wanted to forget this feeling. Is this what Sarah felt like all the time? Chuck? Could she feel like this all the time too?

Sarah had told her all about the high of a successful mission and what it did to you. She even admitted that it was the cause of almost all of the sex between her and Bryce Larkin. She was clearly embarrassed, but she also admitted that it felt great. It was so great that most female agents lived for those moments. They went out of their way to find them. The problem was also the opportunity. Ellie didn't have to go out of her way. He was already sharing her bed.

What to do? The problem was that doctors never made uninformed choices, and how could she make this choice without even getting a glimpse of that other sort of life? The one she'd been missing all this time?

She should have spent her college years running wild and meeting men like Cole. Instead, she studied hard and kept her grades up, held a part-time job in order to pay the remaining tuition, stayed close to home to take care of Chuck. Was it so wrong to have one night of excitement? To find out what she had apparently been missing all those year?

Yes, she answered herself, very wrong.

But that didn't stop the longing in her chest. She could do this, she could put on that negligee that had been sitting in the bottom of her bag for the last week, she could go out there and learn what life with a superspy would be like. Sarah said it herself. It's what spies do.

It'd be only the one night. She understood that. After all, that was also part of the deal with exciting superspies. They didn't have relationships… only hookups. Cole Barker was going to be gone in five days, and the truth was she would probably never see him again. Was she really ready to risk her life with Devon for one night of passion? Was it really that important to her that she know what it felt like to just let go? She honestly wasn't sure. But there was one thing she was sure of… tonight was her very last chance to find out. As she reached up to brush the hair out of her eyes, she noticed how badly her hands were shaking. This was one night she owed herself in order to be secure in her future. She didn't want to live a blind life, one in which she settled for one thing just because she hasn't known anything else.

Taking a deep breath, she reached down to grab her sleepwear from the bag.

x-x-x-x-x

At first, Chuck thought that she was joking. After all, she and Ellie were just falling all over themselves laughing. But if this was an act, it was a damn good one. She was lying there curled up in a ball, as far away from him as she could possibly be. And it was a very big bed.

His first instinct was to be annoyed. And it wouldn't take much to go there. But he instinctively knew that wasn't the way to reach her tonight. So he took a deep breath. "Sarah," he said as gently as he could. "Why are you so mad at me? I really don't think I did anything wrong."

Sarah didn't turn to face him, so her voice was pretty muffled. "I'm not mad at you at all," she said. "Well, except for maybe making me wear these ridiculous pajamas again. It's way too warm in here for them."

Chuck knew that laughing would be the worst thing, the very worst thing. So he was able to hold it in. "I'm a little confused," he finally said.

Sarah finally turned to face him. "No kidding?" she said sarcastically. "Chuck, I'm trying to figure out a way to get through to you. I really don't think you get how I feel about this, how I felt watching you lie there looking all dead."

"Okay," Chuck finally said. "I get it. I'm not making fun of you. But do you think that maybe you could give me a chance to explain things first? Then, if you feel I need punishing, well, okay. I really don't know what I could have done differently today."

"I know," Sarah sighed. "I've never been in relationship before. Okay, so I don't know what I'm doing as a girlfriend. Yes, I freely admit that. I'm being unfair. I get that. I just don't know what else to do."

"How about this?" Chuck asked. "I've never been a girlfriend before either. But what about sliding over to your boyfriend, telling him that you're glad he's not dead, and ask him to be more understanding in the future?"

She looked at him for a long moment. "Are you making fun of me?" she finally asked.

Chuck knew that he was walking close to the edge. His near term love life depended on answering that question correctly. "Sarah," he said as softly as he could. "I'm so not making fun of you. I'm trying to be understanding. But how about this? Why don't you try talking to me? I know that you're not comfortable talking about feelings, but just give me a chance. I bet that I might just surprise you. Besides, we have five days left of being an open couple. Do you really want to spend one being mad at me?"

He knew by the twinkle in her eye that the immediate crisis had been averted. "That was a good answer," she said as she rolled over and very carefully snuggled into her favorite position. "Okay, you have a deal. Surprise me."

"Why don't you tell me about it?" he asked. "This actually feels good. I'm usually the one who is insecure."

"You're wrong about that," she said quickly. "I'm way more insecure than you are. I'm just better at hiding it."

Chuck was skeptical. "Why on earth would you possibly be insecure?" he asked.

She paused for a long time. "You struggled when you saw Bryce kiss me once last Thanksgiving, right?" she finally asked. "Well, I watched you and that Lou girl steam up the Nerd Herder for an hour. You worried that Cole and I spent the night together that time. I had to watch you and Jill rolling around in your bed pretty much all night.

Chuck didn't say anything for a long moment. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

"Don't be," she replied. "You didn't do anything wrong. I was pushing you away. You wanted something real. I couldn't give it to you. I understand that."

"I'm not sorry because I did something wrong," Chuck said. "I'm sorry that you were hurt. I asked you the night before I first asked Lou out if we were ever going anywhere. We were under the effects of that stupid truth serum. You said no. I was trying to respect you. And Jill, well that was stupid. I just wanted to be with you so badly, and it didn't ever look like it was going to happen."

"I know," she sighed. "Chuck, I'm not blaming you. It's been a long year."

"But it's over now," he said. "Why don't you tell me the other thing that's bothering you?"

Sarah was forced to smile a little at how well he could read her. "I've been having a recurring nightmare," she finally said. "Pretty much every night. It's always the same. I'm at a funeral. When I finally get up to the casket, it's you lying there. I usually wake up screaming. Chuck, it's so real."

"So that's why you're so freaked out about me being hurt," Chuck said. "Have you seen someone about it? The CIA must have resources."

"Are you kidding?" Sarah asked. "The CIA has almost as many therapists on the payroll as they do agents. Agents are used to bad dreams. They come with the territory. Besides, I can't tell a CIA shrink about that dream. He'd know that I'm in love with my asset. I'd be reassigned before my butt was off his couch."

"What about doctor-patient privilege?" he asked.

Sarah's laugh was humorless. "You're kidding, right?" she asked. "This is the CIA. They'd bug a confessional."

"Why haven't I heard you scream?" Chuck asked. "You said it happens every night."

Now Sarah's smile was genuine. "It does," she said. "Or I guess it did anyway. I haven't had one since we've been sleeping together."

That got a grin in response. "It's obvious what the cure is," he said. "It's all that unresolved sexual tension."

"Trust me," Sarah said with her own grin. "I had plenty of unresolved sexual tension before we started sleeping together. Besides, are you saying that if we resolve it, I'll start having nightmares again? Maybe you should rethink that diagnosis, Dr. Bartowski."

That got them both laughing, so much that Chuck suddenly realized that the Novocain had worn off and he could now feel the pull of his stitches. But it broke the tension like it had never been there. "Good point," he said as soon as he could stop laughing and pulled her in close. "Maybe we should test your theory… and resolve it."

"Nice try," Sarah said as she started giggling again.

But after a while Chuck got serious again. "I get it, you know?" he said. "Okay. You don't want me to die. Of course. But guess what? I don't want you to die either. Having to go to your funeral would kill me just the same as you going to mine. So why don't we try this? Let's trust each other not to die. It will be our second promise to each other."

"Ever?" Sarah asked.

"Ever," Chuck repeated.

Sarah just reached over to gently kiss him.

"Deal."

x-x-x-x-x

Cole sat up when Ellie walked out of the bathroom, eyes widening as he took in what she was wearing. What she wasn't wearing, really. The red lace negligee hid absolutely nothing. If anything it enhanced the contrast in the dimly light room and made her body stand out more than if she had been naked. It allowed him to see her figure to its fullest extent, from her toned arms to her taut stomach to her long, shapely legs. And of course, where his eyes were currently fixated, her chest… soft and yet amazingly firm, straining against the invisible material, betraying her excitement. Gulping, he turned away.

"Eleanor," he warned in a murmur. "What are you doing?"

Of course the question was rhetorical. He instinctively knew full well what she was doing. She kept sauntered towards him, perhaps a little more tentatively. He tensed up, trying to find the will to ignore her advances, because this was his good friend. She was a sister and a friend and a fiancée. He cared about her, cared about Chuck and Sarah, and there was no way he should do this to any of them. But the battle raged within him as he was reminded by the sight that was filling his senses how incredibly captivating Eleanor Bartowski truly was. As she got closer, the overwhelming scent of her lavender shampoo hit him like a blow to the gut. It was intoxicating, made him think that maybe, just for a few moments, he could recapture the love he once had, the humanity he'd since lost. He could lose himself in her, would willingly pretend that he was everything she wanted, if only to feel something again. He'd been so empty since Ireland, a great vacuum where his heart used to be. So he tried hard to talk himself into this. After all, she was a big girl. In a very real way, he would be doing her a favor. She clearly wanted this as much as he did.

But this was Eleanor. She was beautiful, yes, and kind, and compassionate, and so much like a woman he used to know. If only she loved him . . . If she loved him, with no fiancée or danger or heartbreak standing in their way, he'd be a new man, revolutionized by just a glance from her. He could learn to love her as well. He'd easily be able to convince himself that he loved her right now. After all, she was worthy of that love. If he had met her in a different time and place, he certainly would love her.

She didn't love him though. She was in love with a good man, and he suspected this behavior tonight was one last rebellious streak, stoked by the adrenalin rush that was always there after a successful mission, working its way out of her system before the big day.

"Eleanor," he pleaded in a low voice, "trust me. You don't know what you're doing."

She took a seat beside him on the bed, and she was close enough now that he could feel the puff of air from her sigh on his neck. When he turned his head, she was close enough for him to see the tiny hint of misgiving in her soft brown eyes, tiny but still enough for him to realize that maybe she wasn't as in-charge as she thought. Then he saw her hand trembling and he knew for sure. She was torn.

Before he could respond to her sudden nearness, she sighed, "I know. You're right. But I have to find out."

Then she kissed him, and he let her, or maybe he kissed her. He wasn't quite sure anymore because the scent of lavender was filling up his lungs and tamping down any logical thought.

The kiss was soft, tentative at first but quickly gaining in intensity. His heart rate skyrocketed when Eleanor wrapped one arm around his shoulders and rested one hand on his neck, her fingertips grazing his cheek. His arms found their way around her slender waist, pulling her even tighter to him.

He was drowning in her, dying from lack of air and yet blissful all the same. She tasted like sugar cookies, and the stimulus was enough to trip his brain out on images of heartbreaking normalcy – a house in the suburbs, breakfasts in bed, family.

He couldn't get enough of her, couldn't get enough of the feel of her silky skin against his palms, her tongue tangling with his, her breasts pushed against his chest, her hair falling against his cheek. He pulled her roughly onto his lap, and she responded by shifting to straddle him, by sliding her fingers up to fist in his hair. He let out a groan at the sensation. It was as if she was unleashing an animal long-dormant inside of him.

He hadn't felt this alive since Ireland.

The realization gave him pause, and he lifted a hand to her neck to pull away from her. "Eleanor, Eleanor," he said huskily. "Are you completely sure you want this?"

Again there was the hesitation that betrayed her doubt. But she finally nodded. "I have to know," she inclined her head again and murmured against his lips, "Cole, I want this. I want you."

Those words ignited a fire in his brain. He was an addict, and Eleanor his drug. Fusing their lips together again, he snaked his arms around her waist and rolled her over onto her back on the mattress. Her body felt right beneath his, like all their curves fit right together. After a long moment, she finally cautiously slithered a hand up inside his t-shirt, and a shudder ran through him at the scrape of her nails along his abs.

Ellie was strangely comforted by the touch of his amazing abs. They felt just like Devon's. If she closed her eyes she could probably pretend… And that's when the realization hit her like an electric shock. Why on earth should she pretend that some other man was Devon? What in the world was she doing? Why was she trying to find out something that she already knew? God, she missed him.

For his part, Cole was now in his element. Eleanor wasn't the sort of woman he could refuse. He needed to feel his chest against hers. Grinning widely, he sat up, tore off the offending article of clothing, and tossed it into the corner. It wasn't arrogance, it was simply fact, if his friend wanted to know what a night of pure passion felt like, she had certainly come to the right place.

This, after all, was his main talent. He could take a beautiful woman and take away her pain and her senses for one glorious evening. He could show her what she had been missing all her life. Maybe he could even make her love it so much that she would learn to love him. He paused for a moment to take in the amazing gift that he had just been given, staring down at her, lying there with her eyes closed. Thanks to the moonlight filtering in through the slit blinds, he was once again faced with the sight of her toned body in a barely-there negligee. The sight stole the breath from his lungs.

I want you, she'd said.

It was exactly what any guy would want to hear in this situation, but there was a time when someone had said, I love you, instead.

No matter how much he tried, no matter how much he pretended, no matter how much he lied to himself, there was no bringing that back.

"Eleanor," he murmured, burying his head against her shoulder, "we shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't be doing this! Think of how much we'd be destroying. I can't let you throw away your future with your fiancé. And I'm not interested in throwing away my friendship with Chuck and Sarah."

The silence rang in his ears until she whispered, "Thank you."

He picked his head up, seeing the relief in her eyes, and he understood. They'd both just been trying to fill a void that couldn't be filled. "Why?" he asked softly. "I mean, I know you had me convinced that you really wanted this. So why pretend?"

Frowning, she confessed, "I've been stuck in the same life since I was twelve. I felt I owed it to myself to find out what it would be like to experience something else, something vastly different. I wanted to know what it would be like to be a part of your world."

He rested a palm against her cheek. "My world's a dangerous place, Eleanor. A guy like me only sees other people as means to the end."

She shook her head. "I don't feel like that with you."

That's because I care for you, he wanted to tell her.

"And somehow," she continued, "I don't think I'm the only one who needed to figure out something important tonight, am I?"

He rolled over onto his back, put a hand beneath his head, and let out a long sigh. There was so much he wanted to tell her. She would understand, he knew.

But instead he just said, "Why me? Was it just because I'm here? If Casey were the one protecting you . . ." He trailed off with a chuckle.

Eleanor, laughing, gave him a soft push on the shoulder. "I've seen you with my brother and Sarah. You're a good friend. You're a good person." She smiled a little wickedly and added, "Besides, I've also seen your abs."

"Maybe I should show them a little less then," he laughed, relaxing a little. He got up to retrieve his t-shirt from the corner and pulled it hastily over his head, mussing his already-mussed hair in the process. When he looked back at Eleanor, she was propped up on one elbow watching him.

"I need to put on some clothes," she said shyly, resisting the strong temptation to cover herself with her arms but suddenly acutely aware of her near nudity. It was not lost on Ellie that this was the second time today that she had been, for all intents and purposes, naked in front of a man other than her fiancé. But unlike this afternoon, this time she actually felt naked. She needed to get dressed. "Then we can talk."

"That's probably best," he smiled, "so at least I'll be able to concentrate again."

"Fair enough," she chuckled. At least his teasing tone told her that he wasn't angry with her. That was a relief. After all, he had every right. Her actions had just bordered on being cruel.

x-x-x-x-x

When Ellie came out of the bathroom a second time, she was in her typical more-modest oversized t-shirt and shorts again. Her face was flush with embarrassment as she slowly walked over to the bed, where Cole was sitting up against the headboard.

"Again, I just wanted to say how sorry and . . . completely mortified I am," she confessed, sliding under the covers with a sigh. "I never should have done that."

She knew she should feel awful right now, about jumping him, about thinking that one night could ever replace what she had with Devon. She didn't feel awful though, and that confused her. Now that she had a brief glimpse of what this sort of life would be like, she was all the more thankful for the one waiting for her back at home.

"It's fine, really," he said with a warm smile.

"Must happen to you all the time, right?" she chuckled.

Cole shrugged. "You'd be surprised."

"Oh, come on," she prompted, "it's not like you don't know how attractive you are. I bet you have girls falling over you all the time."

"A few, but never with such enthusiasm," he teased. His smile faded, and he took a deep breath before saying hesitantly, "You said you wanted to know what it was like in my world."

He seemed reluctant to go on, so she nodded and laid a hand on his arm. "Please don't tell me I'm completely stupid for wanting to know."

"No, not stupid," he smiled gently. "Never that. But the thing about spies is that . . . we may seem invincible, but the truth is that a lot of us are just compensating for the fact that we're broken on the inside."

Leaning her head against his shoulder, she murmured, "Wanna tell me about it?"

He let out a long, heavy sigh and ran a hand over his forehead. "I haven't exactly talked about this," he confessed.

"Well, maybe I can be the first you tell it to," she suggested, "and maybe getting it off your chest will help."

He pursed his lips, taking a moment to compose himself, and said huskily, "A few years ago, I was undercover in Ireland trying to take down a crime syndicate. It was a long mission, and it was rough work. It took a while to ingratiate myself with the organization, a lot of ops where I had to prove myself, and when you're proving yourself to a crime lord, it generally involves physical pain."

He let out a soft chuckle, but Ellie just took his hand between hers. Cole was the sort of guy to stand on his own, but she thought he could maybe use a shoulder right now, even if that shoulder just needs to be silent and present.

"I felt . . . really alone," he sighed. "Duty helped me get through each day. But then, one day, I met Brigid."

Ellie could tell just by the way he said her name, with such reverence and love, that this was a defining point in his life. "She changed you, didn't she?"

"Brigid . . ." he hummed, "she saved me, is more like it. I would have driven myself to death in that crew if she hadn't come along when she did. I was content with my duty, but Brigid . . . she just, she had this wonderfully optimistic worldview." He shook his head, marveling. "We could be looking at the same scene, the same problem, and still see completely different things. When we were together, I . . . I saw the world differently."

"Tell me about her."

He hesitated for a second before smiling and saying, "She was a lot like you, actually."

Ellie picked her head off his shoulder to peer at him playfully. "You mean amazingly beautiful and all kinds of wonderful?"

"What I meant," he laughed softly, lazily entwining their fingers, "was that she was vibrant, and headstrong, and selfless, and patient, and just completely breathtaking."

"You think I'm headstrong?"

"It's the Bartowski in you, I'm sure, because your brother's the same way," he told her teasingly.

She was glad he was smiling again, but she wanted to keep him talking, if only on the chance that it would help him heal from whatever this heartbreak was in his past. "Tell me how you met."

"In a pub," he said. "It was this little hole in the wall with horrible heating. And it was the dead of winter, so I was huddled in a corner booth, just needing to relax after a job. I looked a mess; I had a cut across my cheek and bruises all over. I think I'd actually broken a rib that night."

She was mesmerized by him, by the soft lilt of his voice as he lost himself in memories.

He swallowed and continued softly, "She walked in, and I froze when she caught my eye. I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing. And then she waltzed right over to me, threw her arms around me, and kissed me. She kissed me!" He let out a soft chuckle, and Ellie smiled. "It was a few minutes later that I realized she was just trying to avoid the attentions of an ex-boyfriend, who'd followed her into the pub."

"So you pretended to be her new boyfriend?" Ellie asked, a little amazed at the story.

"Until her ex left, yeah," he confirmed. "I was too dazzled to turn her down. But then she stuck around and got to know me, and I was bewitched."

"You mean she wasn't scared off by your appearance?"

"On the contrary, actually, which proved to be quite indicative of our relationship. She was always very patient with me, always gave me more chances than I deserved. That night, though, she took me back to her apartment and cleaned me up. Bandaged my ribs, iced my bruises, even stitched up my busted-up face." After a brief, taut pause, he murmured, "I never believed in fate until that night."

"So what happened?" she prompted gently.

"Brigid, she was my rock, you know? Leading a life of crime takes its toll on a guy, but coming home to her every night was rejuvenating. I was a new man when I was with her."

Ellie waited patiently for him to continue, not wanting to press him and make him clam up. She'd often experienced that with Sarah. Push the girl too far and she'd refuse to say another word. It was a spy thing, she guessed, from keeping yourself so bound up in secrets all the time. So she hung on to his arm, understanding that it was sometimes better just to let the other person know you were there, know you were listening, know you cared.

A crease formed in his brow as he fought to keep his breathing steady. "She left me," he confessed. "I was a fool, thinking she'd always be there when in reality I was just burning through all my chances. To her, I was just a criminal wasting my potential. In the end, she said she couldn't put her life on hold any longer to wait for me to figure my own out." Cole pressed his hands to his eyes for a moment to collect himself. "I told her I just needed a little more time. I couldn't tell her how close I was to completing my mission, of course, and there was no proof I could give her. I just . . . I watched her walk out because I was too much of a coward to put her before the job."

"No," she assured him, "not a coward. You were protecting her, weren't you? From the crime, from the spy life, too?"

He gave her a grim smile. "You'd like to believe that, I know, but that's not the truth, Eleanor. The truth is just that I found it easier to do nothing, easier to fall back into the routine of duty."

"So you never went after her?"

He shook his head, his lips pursed in anger. "When she left, she didn't leave me a number or address or anything. She didn't want to be found."

"But you're a spy. You could have found her."

"I could have, but she didn't want me to come after her. I thought if I couldn't give her the relationship she deserved, I could at least give her the solitude she was asking for. I let her go, and that's haunted me every day since I did."

"You seem so . . . together, though."

"That's how it works. A spy doesn't become great because of his marksmanship or his language skills or anything like that. A spy becomes great because he knows what great loss is."

"And Brigid was yours," Ellie said quietly. She could see it now, see him turning into the great spy he was now because of this experience, see him channeling his pain into passion for the job. A frown darkening her face, she leaned into him, at a loss for what to do to alleviate his suffering. Idly, she wondered what Sarah's loss was. "Have you ever tried to find her since then?"

"No," he said with another shake of his head. "I thought . . . I thought I'd finally put her behind me, but then I met you."

"And all those memories came rushing back," she nodded knowingly.

"Mm-hmm," he hummed.

"Does it help to talk about it? You know you can talk to me, Cole."

He turned to her, reached a hand over to graze her arm with his knuckles. "You want to know the worst part? She used lavender shampoo."

Ellie let out a long sigh as she pieced together the clues. "So that's why you objected so vehemently to my shampoo."

"Chuck told you about that, huh?" he asked, quirking a half-smile.

"He was just confused about why the shampoo of all things freaked you out, that's all."

"Will you do me a favor?" Cole asked. Off her nod, he continued, "Will you not tell him about this? Chuck and Sarah don't know, and I'd . . . I'd rather just keep it between us, at least for now."

She nodded and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. She wasn't one for keeping secrets from the people she loved, but she could understand his desire to keep a past heartbreak in the past. He was a friend now, and Bartowskis valued friendship very highly.

"Thank you, Eleanor," he whispered, "for listening."

x-x-x-x-x

"I have a confession to make."

Chuck just looked at her. They had been lying there in the dark holding each other silently for some time.

"I can't make up my mind," Sarah continued. "I mean, I know that the no-sex rule was my idea. And I really still think it's for the best. I mean how can we go back to being platonic after that? But I can also see the other side. That it's going to be a while before we can be together and at least we'd have this week. And maybe that memory would help get us through the tough times."

"Both good arguments," Chuck said. "How are you going to resolve this dilemma?"

"I'm not," Sarah said. In response to his confused look, she smiled. "I'm going to let you decide. There are good reasons to wait. And there are good reasons to go for it."

"Which do you want?"

"You're kidding, right?" Sarah asked. "I'm actually disappointed in you that you would ask that. Making love with you for the first time is going to be the highlight of my life no matter when it happens. It's almost all I ever think about. I think I've set up my expectations to the point where I'm almost afraid nothing could meet them. But I also know there are valid reasons to wait. So I'm giving you the responsibility."

"Let me get this straight," Chuck said. "You think we should wait. But if I decide, we'll make love?"

"Any time, any place," Sarah said with a smile. "Say the word, or don't say anything at all and just go for it. The decision is all yours. I trust that you'll make the right one. I'm completely in your hands. If we do it, I promise I'll be a wild thing. And if we wait, we'll wait together. It's going to be magical no matter when it happens."

"That's pretty cruel, you know?" Chuck said sadly. "That's a tough decision."

"I know," Sarah whispered.

"I told you I'd find a way to get through to you."

x-x-x-x-x


	14. Finally

_This was going to be the final chapter, but it was just getting too long. Since BrickRoad isn't here to catch any last second typos, I'm lucky (no pun intended) that my friend Lucky47 is helping out. If you get a chance, check out her great story, Family Matters. Trust me on this, you won't be sorry._

_I think the title of this chapter should be pretty self explanatory. But if you're at all squeamish about reading what finally happens, umm… what in the heck's wrong with you? Just kidding. Don't worry. It all happens in the dark, lol. There is some adult content but nothing that should make you blush._

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**Finally**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck waited in bed for Sarah and thought about the last three days. They had certainly been different. For the first ten days, Ellie had filled every waking moment with fun, romantic things designed to make him and Sarah feel like a couple.

But now, even Ellie admitted that job was complete. They not only felt like a couple, they were one. And even though they might have to pretend otherwise for a while, they now always would be a couple for as long as they lived.

Of course, Ellie was more than just his big sister. In a lot of ways, she was his mom. And in all ways, she was his doctor. So when the sister, doctor, and mom all got together and insisted that he take it easy for a couple of days, it was hard to resist. Not that it sounded all that bad to him anyway. They spent most of those days lying on the beach. Chuck couldn't believe his good fortune. He could seriously get used to this being babied deal. Than again, who couldn't get used to lying there in the sun with the most beautiful woman in the world wearing a barely there bikini cuddled in his arms? That is, when she wasn't fetching him a fresh cool drink or rubbing lotion on his back. He could see the envy in the other men as she made quite the show out of servicing his every need, and quite frankly, the disbelief.

But he also was becoming fairly concerned about Ellie. Clearly being away fromDevonwas starting to take it's toll on her. But he left most of the comforting to Sarah. After all, they were so close. And what did he know to say to her anyway?

Then there was Sarah. She had just spent the last three days being the girlfriend that he could only dream about, and not just the babying part. She was clearly enjoying putting on the show for the other men of a totally devoted, lovesick girlfriend. He actually winced whenever he said girlfriend, even to himself. It sounded so juvenile. The truth was, she already was more his wife than his girlfriend. That's how they both acted, like they were on their honeymoon… well, with a single obvious exception anyway.

And their make out sessions. He quickly discovered that she had been holding back before. But now that she was free of the burden of making the decision to make love or wait, she was a wild thing. That was now Chuck's burden. And the decision had been to wait, for now anyway. She seemed to respect that and tried hard not to influence him in any way, well, except for the obvious ways.

But tonight Chuck could tell from the moment that she slipped into bed that something was clearly bothering her. For one thing, the way she kissed him was different, much more… well, needy. Normally her hands were running wild in their make out sessions. Tonight was different. For one thing, they both stayed dressed pretty much dressed. That was a first in the past ten days. For another, she held both of her hands on the back of his head, as if afraid that if their kissing broke, it would never resume. And now she was lying there clinging to him, almost like she was afraid to let go.

Even though he already knew, he had to hear it from her lips. "Okay, Sarah," he said softly after they had been lying there wordlessly for a long time. "Tell me what's wrong."

x-x-x-x-x

"Okay, Cole," Ellie said forcefully. "You've been moping around for three days now. It's depressing me. And I'm already depressed enough without you adding to it. It stops now."

Cole actually laughed, for perhaps the first time all day. "You haven't been exactly Miss Sunshine yourself," he said.

"Guilty," Ellie quickly admitted. "Yes, I miss him. Yes, I'm worried about him. I'll freely admit that I'm ready for this to be over. But at least I know that this is going to be over."

"You're lucky," Cole replied. "You really don't know how lucky you are?"

Ellie just grinned at him. "Now you sound just like Sarah. Why does everybody keep telling me that?" she asked sarcastically. "Of course I know how lucky I am. But it's a little more than luck."

"What do you mean?"

"I made it happen," Ellie responded firmly. "Cole, you have to make it happen. It breaks my heart to see you moping around like this. You have to go find her. We both know it."

Cole sighed and looked out the window for a long moment. "What if she's moved on?" he said softly, much more to the window than to Ellie.

"It's possible," Ellie said as soothingly as she possibly could. "I mean, you have to be ready for that possibility. But at least you'll know. Then you can have closure and eventually move on yourself. But I'll bet a lot of money that she hasn't. You would be a pretty hard man to move on from."

Cole didn't turn from the window, but he did speak with more purpose. "What would I say to her?" he asked.

At first Ellie thought that he was kidding, so she laughed. "Wow, Cole," she said. "I never thought that I would be reduced to giving you lessons in how to talk to women. You've been hanging around my brother far too much." But then she noticed the look as he finally turned back to face her. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I was just teasing. I'm not making fun of you. Sweetie, if you really want to reach her, make sure that she knows what's changed, that you're ready to make her first in your life. Do whatever it takes to convince her that you're ready for a grown-up relationship."

"How do I do that?"

"A little groveling wouldn't hurt," Ellie said as her smile returned.

After a bit, a small smile came to his lips. And that eventually became a bigger one. "Don't misunderstand me," he said. "But Eleanor, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if you and I had met under different circumstances."

Ellie knew exactly what he meant, because she had more than once wondered the same thing. Cole Barker was a truly amazing man. He was everything that you would possibly look for, breathtakingly good looking, smart, funny, sweet, and an honest to goodness hero. The fact of the matter was that she could have seen herself easily falling for him and never looked any farther. There was really only one thing that he lacked, but it was a show stopper. He wasn't Devon. And similarly she knew that she wasn't Brigid, and never could be. "Me too," she said softly. But then she matched Cole's smile. "But then you would hit on me in a bar…"

"And you'd more than likely throw a drink in my face," Cole finished her statement. It got them both laughing.

"Probably," Ellie said as soon as she could control herself enough to speak. She hesitated for a moment. Then she decided that he would understand what she was saying. "So, it's probably better if we just stay life long friends who love each other, share a bond that nothing could ever touch, and root for each other to be happy, don't you think?"

Cole knew exactly what she was saying, and couldn't have said it any better. "Yes, Eleanor," he said. "It is."

"Okay," Ellie said. "So it's settled. You have to go get her. I don't want to hear any other words come out of your mouth other than yes, ma'am. Is that clear?"

Cole just sighed. "Yes, ma'am," he said.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck knew exactly what she was going to say. He braced for it. He was fully expecting her to tell him that it was time for the trial to be over, for them to go back to being platonic. So he was surprised when she finally answered him. "We're going to get caught," she said softly.

"Sarah," he protested. "I'll try my best. I know how important this is. I'll…"

"It's not you," she quickly interrupted. "It's me. They expect you to act this way. It's me that's going to get us caught. Just look at me. They're expecting Agent Walker, not some pathetic doe-eyed lovesick schoolgirl. There's no way I'm going to be able to fool anybody. They'll figure it out within two weeks."

"Okay," Chuck said cautiously. "What do you want to do? Run? You know that I'm always willing to do that."

"Maybe," Sarah sighed. "We've talked about that. I still don't want to do that except as a last resort. We pay too big of a price. Once we do that, we're committed for the rest of our lives. It would be a lot better to just be uncomfortable for hopefully only a few months rather than forever."

Chuck could tell that there was something that she wasn't telling him. "So," he said. "What do you propose?"

Sarah was silent for a long time. Almost for so long that Chuck didn't think she had an answer. "I know you're not going to like this," she finally said softly. "But there is a way."

That had Chuck's alarms going off. "Please," he said. "Just tell me."

"We're never going to be able to fool them as a cover couple," Sarah said cautiously. "But if we broke up and both pretended to become involved with someone else, they would never suspect anything."

"Involved with someone else?" Chuck repeated. "What does that mean? Who?"

"Pretended to be involved," she quickly corrected. "There's a big difference. Look, Chuck, I know that you don't like this. I don't either. I'm so sorry that we're forced into even having this discussion. But if we were both looked like we were dating someone else, they would never suspect us of anything. As far as who, I don't know yet. Plenty of people come into our lives. People like Cole or that Lou girl."

"But not Cole," Chuck said quickly. "Or Bryce."

"Actually, Cole would be perfect," Sarah sighed. Then she saw Chuck's devastated look. "Come on, Chuck," she said sadly. "You know I didn't mean it like that at all. We're way past that now, aren't we? It's just that Cole is our friend. He would cover for us. Too bad he's not going to be around."

"Would Bryce cover for us?" Chuck asked hopefully.

Sarah knew what he was saying. It would be great. If Bryce would cover for them, they could have whole nights of being together without Beckman suspecting a thing. She sighed as she had to dash his hope. "He might," she said. "I could probably talk him into it, but he would have a price. Remember at the Pyramids when I said that he didn't mind using sex as a commodity? Remember when I told you that I would never let Bryce be in that position with me and what he would want?"

"That's not happening," Chuck said quickly as the red began to creep up his neck. "I'm sorry if that sounds jealous or possessive. I know we're past that."

"It didn't sound jealous or possessive at all," Sarah said with her first smile in a while. "It actually sounded very sweet. I understand that you're working on being jealous. But you never should have to be okay with even the thought of that happening. If you ever are, there's something wrong. No, Bryce is definitely out. It can't be anything like that. It would be way too hard on both of us. Trust me, it won't be that Lou slut either. That would be too hard for me. But we meet other people all the time. For me it's probably going to have to be an agent. Nobody would buy me dating a civilian."

"How am I going to get someone to date me?" Chuck asked incredulously. "In case you hadn't noticed, women are not exactly lining up to go out with me."

Sarah sighed sadly. "I really wish that was true," she said. "But it's not. I see the way women look at you. It's just that you never have the confidence to let them know you're interested. I've never encouraged you… well, because I never wanted it to happen. You're going to be the easy one to hook up."

"I hate this idea," Chuck said. "How far are we going to go with these other people?"

"I'm not crazy about it either," Sarah sighed. "But you have to admit, it would work. They wouldn't separate such an effective team. And they would stop worrying that our relationship was causing issues. We would still be able to work together and be with each other every day while we worked out how to make us permanent. How far to go? We'll have to play that one by ear. We'll both tell them that we're going slow. But Chuck, we're going to have to eventually be convincing that we are in legitimate adult relationships."

"Surely not sex?" Chuck protested. "What agent is going to date you and not expect sex the first night? Cole sure was, and you hadn't even dated. He told me he was going to butter your muffin himself. And please tell me that you're not expecting me too…"

"No, I've had to watch that once too often already," Sarah said quickly, a lot more harshly than she intended. But then she sighed. "I'm sorry, Chuck. I didn't mean to sound like that. You can probably tell I hate this more than you do. If it happens it's going to be harder on me than it is on you. We'll draw the line on actual sex. But we probably are going to have to eventually show this other person some intimacy sometime to make it believable. And yes, you're right, an agent is going to be more aggressive than a civilian would be. But I also know how to handle myself. We'll just keep it to a bare minimum and go as slow as we possibly can. Once we get to the point where the other person starts demanding more than second base necking, and they all will eventually, we'll dump them and look for someone else."

"You're okay with me going to second base with another girl?" Chuck asked incredulously. "Because I sure as hell am not okay with some other guy…"

"Of course not," Sarah interrupted. "I'm not okay with that at all. If it happened for real, I don't know what I'd do. But we can't be separated, Chuck. And for right now anyway, watching you put your hand inside a girl's shirt for a couple of minutes once a week or so is better than running. And you'll never have to watch me."

"That's even worse," Chuck said sadly. "I'll have to imagine the worst. Knowing that somewhere, you're in some other man's bedroom, you're kissing, and he's taking off your shirt."

"Don't worry," Sarah said softly with the beginnings of a twinkle. "That's not what I mean. It will never happen. Trust me, I can handle myself with these guys. I might have to kiss somebody sometime, but it's never going past that. They'll surely try but they're never getting anywhere. I already have somewhat of a reputation in the agent community for not liking my muffin buttered anyway. I'll just be acting with them, just like you will be. And I promise to tell you every detail about anything they try with my muffin. If we do this, I'm going to have to figure out some way for us to sneak away for an hour or so every couple of weeks. We'll need to take some time and remind each other why we're doing this, how much we love each other, how someday we're going to be together forever and raise our family."

It didn't escape Chuck how very close she had just come to telling him that she loved him. It really didn't matter. He already knew. But finally a faint smile came to his lips. "What about these times that we sneak away? I'm hoping that no-butter preference doesn't apply to me. Will we have a chance for sex?" he asked hopefully.

Sarah found her smile for the second time. "Be careful with the metaphors," she said. "Because right now I can think of some very nice places I'd like to be buttered." Then, responding to the blush she actually answered his question with a sigh. "I hope so. Whenever we can manage it," she said. "But it's probably not going to be possible very often. That's actually the good thing about this strategy. Nobody would be paying much attention to us, so there wouldn't be a reason for us not to be as intimate as we could get away with. The only problem is we wouldn't be cover dating so it would be hard to explain us being alone together someplace. Without someone like Cole covering for us, there is no way that we could spend the night together. We might be able to find a way for a quickie sometimes. I'm afraid that's going to have to be enough. Our first priority is not getting caught. Chuck, you know that if I could think of another way, I would. This is just for a little while until we can be together for real. Nothing is going to stop that from happening. We've already promised each other. I'm going to hold you to that promise. And I expect you to hold me to mine. We'll need to constantly remind each other by trusting each other to a ridiculous extent."

"Let's remind each other how much we love each other right now," he said. "I'm crazy about you. I always will be. Ten years from now. Fifty years from now. Until I draw my last breath."

Sarah knew full well what he meant. They both had wordlessly agreed to stop short of saying 'I love you' to each other. Like sex, it would be tough to go back to being platonic after saying those three words. So they substituted three other words, 'crazy about you' instead. But it was clear what Chuck had just told her. It felt kinda great, especially under the present circumstances. So she said it back. "I'll always be crazy about you too, Chuck. We still have a whole day left. Let's enjoy it."

Sarah felt his warm breath as he kissed her neck. It felt heavenly. She was never quite sure why his simply rubbing her stomach got her motor running so far over the red line… but it sure did. And even though she could now predict the exact moment when his lips would touch hers, when his tongue would first seek hers, and even when he would lift her nightshirt over her head and toss it on the floor, it was every bit as exciting as the first time. If anything, the routine they had established made it even more exciting.

Of course technically this was their second make out session in the past hour. Sarah knew instinctively what that meant. And sure enough, it wasn't very long at all before she felt him tugging at the waistband of her panties. It was pretty clear what he was wordlessly asking. She had always told Chuck that he could decide. And frankly, she was relieved that he apparently finally had. So she just lifted her hips without comment and allowed him to slide them down her legs and remove them, leaving her completely naked with him for the very first time.

"I'm thinking that perhaps it's time for a more physical way to remind each other," he said as he began to press kisses down her neck and paused for a long moment at her chest. There really wasn't anything unusual about that. For the past few days it had been pretty much an every night thing. Except tonight he finally continued down her body.

Sarah had just spent two weeks in pretty much a state of constant arousal anyway. So he quickly had her moaning. Once he got close, she quickly put both hands on his head and guided him to the exact spot, just to make sure he knew what she was hoping for from him. Not that he really needed the guidance or the encouragement. His target tracking systems all seemed to be functioning perfectly fine on their own. And with a skill she would later wonder where he acquired, he methodically stoked the raging fire until he had her at the very edge. Just before she lost all control he stopped and kissed his way back up to her.

Then the moment that she had been dreaming about practically constantly for almost two years finally happened. They were forever one. The last hurdle that kept them from fully being a couple had now been jumped and was left standing in the dust. Sarah was completely lost in the fog of desire. All she could do was instinctively follow his lead and try to move her hips to match his ever more urgent movements. Her last lucid thought before she allowed herself to be consumed by the fire that was quickly building was that she had been wrong for these two weeks. It wouldn't be hard to go back to being platonic… it would be impossible.

Twenty minutes later and Sarah was still trying to catch her breath. It had finally happened. Sarah knew that their relationship had just crossed a threshold. It would never be the same again.

But then Chuck did it. He finally caught his own breath enough to drop the big one. "Sarah," he said softly. "I know why we've held off, but it seems silly now. So, I love you. No matter what happens to us in the near future, that's never going to change. I'm always going to love you."

"You're right," she said. "It's been silly for a while now. I'm really sorry that I've made us wait… for a lot of things. I love you too. I have for a long time. You're my soul mate."

He just reached down and began kissing her… in a way that surely was going to quickly lead to round two. But then he paused. "I don't think you ever told me. You said that you thought about it a lot. Just what are our kids going to look like?"

Sarah knew full well that her life had just completely and forever changed. And she also absolutely knew what the kids were going to look like, at least the first one. He was going to be tall, fair skinned, with brown curly locks, and a twinkle in his eye… just like his dad. There were so many things that she wanted to tell him, so many things that he deserved to know. But she was also currently far too into thinking about the raging fire that his attentions had quickly rebuilt in her loins to have a serious conversation about that subject, or any other subject when it came right down to it. "Surely," she more moaned than said, "you're not expecting to talk about that now? Besides, I think that you can count on finding out on your own soon enough."

After all, this wasn't the time for talk. Talking was Chuck's thing. This was the time for action, and that was her thing. If the first time wasn't enough to finally show him, she would spend all damn night showing him again and again, with absolutely nothing held back, how she felt. Although she had to admit, right now his actions weren't half bad either.

Then she saw his smirk and realized that he was teasing her. "Very funny," she said in relief. "Okay, yes, I'm out of control. I admit that." In response to his calm smile, she smiled herself. After all, he was right. There was no need to rush. They couldn't make up for the past two years of frustration tonight. That was the greatest thing. They didn't have to rush. They now had the rest of their lives.

If his current actions were any indication, and they clearly were, he was enjoying the fact that he was slowly and methodically driving her crazy. So she just waited until he returned, grabbed his head, and pulled him into another long kiss. When it finally broke she smiled to let him know that she was kidding and whispered in his ear.

"Someday you're so going to pay for teasing me."

x-x-x-x-x


	15. The First Rule

_We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference._

"_When you meet someone that you care about, it's just hard to walk away."_

**The First Rule**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah couldn't sleep. The fact of the matter was she wasn't even close. She tried hard to not toss and turn. After all, Chuck's soft breathing told her that he had long ago fallen asleep.

Sarah was more than a little confused about her thoughts. For one thing, sex had an odd reaction with her. It always had. She mostly associated it with work. She actually knew more about sex than most people, but only from a certain perspective. The CIA had taught her what men liked, how to act in every detail to drive them crazy, and use sex to get them to do what she needed to complete her mission. But sex with marks wasn't really sex. It was something else. The CIA never said a single word about helping the agent enjoy sex. For one thing, they actually preferred that you didn't enjoy it. That could be a distraction on a mission. For another, they assumed that you already knew how before you became a trainee. Most of the girls that trained with Sarah already had a very casual attitude towards sex, with almost anybody. After all, that was one of the attributes the CIA looked for in it's recruits. Sarah was most notably an exception in that regard.

Oh, Sarah had enjoyed some of the times with Bryce, there was no question about that. But she had never made love with him. Their sex was almost always a release from an adrenalin charged chase or gunfight on a mission. It was hard, fast, and quickly over. The only other times were basically because Bryce was bored and looking for her to entertain him. She always knew that Bryce was looking out for himself in bed, and if she wanted anything out of it, she had to look out for her own self as well. She had actually learned to do that.

So Sarah had to say that she enjoyed sex, but it certainly wasn't a key part of her life. That's probably why she had been fanaticizing about her first time with Chuck for like forever. She knew that she had anticipated what it would be like to actually make love, with someone who you truly loved, for months. She had built her expectations up to the point of being ridiculous, where no human could possibly meet them. She understood that. She told herself over and over not to be disappointed. It wasn't fair to expect that level of performance from Chuck. She fully expected to feel a let down after that first time.

But how could she have possibly been this wrong?

She had expected her first time of making love with Chuck to be the most wonderful experience of her life. But even she didn't realize how electric it would be. It was ten times as great as her wildest hope. It scared her a little how she completely lost control as wave after wonderful wave after even more wonderful wave hit her. She really didn't even know how long it lasted. It probably wasn't much over a few minutes… but it seemed like forever.

She was willing to explain that away to herself. Okay, so the first time was exciting for both of them. That was only natural. After all, first times were exciting for everybody. And they had been building towards this for months. And let's face it, Chuck was probably working extra hard to impress her. What Sarah couldn't explain was why the second time was even so much better. Honestly, Sarah wasn't planning on being with a man who actually cared about her satisfaction. So that third time when Chuck relaxed and made sure that she felt like the most loved person in the world, and then kept her on the absolute edge, not knowing where she was for almost an hour, was the very best of all. She was soon going to have a very serious discussion about where he learned to do that. If Jill taught him, her attitude towards his ex was going to definitely improve. She was going to have to send her some flowers in prison. All she did know was that if this every-time-is-better trend continued, she was a dead woman.

She always knew sex would change things. That it would be hard to carry on as platonic workmates after sex. But even Sarah wouldn't have been able to predict this. It wasn't going to be hard. It simply wasn't going to happen. There was no way that Sarah was going to give this up. She knew she couldn't even if she tried… and she had absolutely no interest in trying.

Sarah thought about her last conversation with him and had to laugh to herself a little at how silly it now seemed. She was actually feeling more than a little guilty for having put him through the unpleasant thought of her necking with some other agent with his hand up her shirt. But there was no way in hell that she was going to limit herself to this new feeling once every two weeks or so while sneaking around in some dark place for a quickie. And having to watch surveillance tapes of Chuck going to second base with some other slut? She might as well try flapping her arms and fly across the room. The poor tramp that was potentially on the receiving end of any second base action? She would soon be getting a real close view of one of Sarah's knives.

No, that was now off the table. Their options were back to two. Run, or work it out with Beckman. Either way, her and Chuck were going to be together… or someone, or some group of people, was about to die a slow gruesome death.

Sarah lifted her head to watch him sleep. Whatever he was dreaming about, she liked to think that it was her, but whatever it was, there was a smile on his face. Then it happened. Chuck sighed in his sleep. It was the contented sigh of someone who was truly happy.

Isn't it funny how life works? She had been worried all day about telling him the bad news. But now she wasn't worried at all. She would rather die that have to take away that smile. That's when she knew. There was simply no decision to make. Besides, she would never be able to fall asleep ever again without her head in the comfortable nook between his shoulder and head.

She looked at the clock. It was a little after four. Fortunately, that meant it was seven in Washington. So she slipped out of bed. Naturally she was naked, she had been for hours. But something seemed wrong somehow about talking to the General wearing nothing but her contented smile, so she quickly found the nightshirt where Chuck had thrown it on the floor and slipped it over her head. She grabbed the prepaid phone that she had bought that afternoon and quietly slipped into the bathroom.

Beckman answered the phone on the first ring. She was clearly waiting for the call. The first thing that the General did was congratulate her on her part in the success of rescuing the captured DEA agents. As soon as they were home, Sarah was to tell Ellie to expect a call of thanks from the President.

She then told her was that they had determined that there was no longer any threat. Fulcrum was never after Chuck. They were after Cole. And then only because there was a mole in MI-6 that thought that he knew where Bryce Larkin was. Her news was all good. MI-6 had found their mole. And since he was no longer in the country, Cole was no longer a Fulcrum target. It turned out that they never even knew who Chuck was. They were simply looking for clues about where Cole might be.

The other thing that she told her was almost as good. Casey and Devon had already checked in, and were safe. That would be good to be able to tell Ellie, because she was starting to get a tad frantic.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at the news that Chuck, and Ellie by extension, was no longer in immediate danger. She hadn't realized how tense she'd become since this phone call began. But now, she steeled her courage, taking a deep breath to gather her nerve. For some reason, and she was beginning to understand why, this was much harder than facing an entire wall of armed enemies. If this next conversation didn't go well, their next step was to go on the run. She and Chuck would have to say their goodbyes to Ellie today, maybe not forever, but for several years.

"General," she finally said, "I'd like to discuss the new security arrangements for our assignment. I'd like to begin looking for a secure apartment as soon as we return to Burbank."

"That won't be necessary, Agent Walker," Beckman said briskly. "The threat isn't what we feared. There's no longer a need to force you into such a drastic living arrangement."

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah acknowledged, "but we would really both prefer it. It would make things easier on everyone."

Beckman sighed. "Do I need to remind you, Walker, of how valuable the Asset is to national security? It's imperative that his safety be your number one priority."

Sarah grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut as she fought back the thousand arguments from all those training lectures that flooded into her mind. "Of course, ma'am, I understand. That's why I believe this would be better. I'd be able to keep him safe at all times, with less expense taken for both audio and visual recordings."

"But at the expense of your personal time," the General prompted cautiously, letting an unasked question hang in the air.

And Sarah, cravenly, took the out. "I'm an agent, ma'am. I have no personal time, only dedication to my job."

"Agent Walker," Beckman began, "when a handler moves in with his or her asset, there are certain rules that must be followed. To be truthful, they usually change their minds after the standard lecture I give them. Do I really have to give you such a lecture?"

"No, ma'am," she breathed automatically. "I understand and accept all the risks."

Turning on her heel, she began to pace the short length of the bathroom, only to come up in front of the door. She stopped suddenly, lifted a hand to rest on the door, the only thing separating her and the man she loved. Except, it wasn't the only thing. There he was, not twenty feet away, and she was betraying his trust in her. He believed in her, believed in them. Sure, living together was a great thing. It meant that they would be able to be together each night out of range of the surveillance cameras. But it just wasn't enough, and she knew it. The simple fact was that they could never really be together in the way that they both desperately needed until Beckman knew the truth. Surely he deserved better than a coward for a lover.

After a deep breath, she blurted, "There's something I have to tell you, General –"

"_Agent Walker –"_

"- and you're probably not going to like it –"

"_- I'm well aware of your loyalty to this assignment. –"_

"- but the truth is –"

"_- In fact, I'm fairly certain that Mr. Bartowski would not have survived this long –"_

"- that this isn't just me breaking the rules or the two of us connecting because we've been thrown together. –"

"_- without you. Team Bartowski's performance has been stellar, to say the least. –"_

"- I get that all you can see is coincidence and rule-bending, but Chuck is so much more than what you make him out to be. –"

"_- I only ask that your dedication not falter, and that your performance not suffer, -"_

"- I won't be reassigned. I won't live without him anymore. –"

"_- if these living arrangements were to commence."_

"- Because the truth is that I love him, just as much, if not more so, than he loves me." Sarah paused, taking in her superior's words. "Wait. What did you say?"

"I believe you heard me, Agent Walker," Beckman said, and Sarah could swear she heard a smile in the general's voice. "The rules were put in place for a reason, Walker, to prevent fraternization and distraction among agents. But you and Mr. Bartowski, it seems, are no regular agents. You certainly can't argue with the results your partnership has produced. And if this is what it takes to ensure Mr. Bartowski's continued protection, then . . . I am not going to be the one to institute a 49B."

Sarah had to blink away her shock before finally finding her voice. "So, we can move in together?" she asked, all of the sudden realizing that Beckman understood just how much she meant by that phrase.

"If that's what you want, I'll have the agency find an apartment for you. But, Sarah," Beckman said, and Sarah became acutely aware of how soft her voice had become, how she could count on one hand the number of times the General had called her by her first name, "are you sure this is really what you want? Mixing personal and professional lives . . . It can be very, very hard."

Once again, Sarah looked at the bathroom door, imagining the man who lay sleeping just beyond. "Yes, ma'am," she said firmly, "I understand that it might be hard… but it's exactly what we want."

"Tell me something, Sarah," Beckman said, her voice growing even softer. "Let's face it. You're certainly no rookie agent, infatuated by the excitement, having her head turned by some dashing man. In fact, you're probably the very last agent that I ever thought I'd be having this particular discussion with. I think that you're well aware of how badly your admission might very well have turned out for you this morning. I'm curious. Just what is it about Mr. Bartowski that would make you risk such an outstanding career like this? He doesn't seem to be your type at all."

"I'm not sure," Sarah replied thoughtfully. Then she realized how that sounded. Her relationship with General Beckman had been nothing but professional at all times, brisk even. But here she was, for the first time talking to her like a person, and not a subordinate. It was important that she didn't misunderstand. "I mean, I'm sure," she quickly corrected. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that I just don't know how to explain it to you. I'll admit that he's not the type of man that I always pictured myself with. It's just…" Sarah paused… and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "I love him. I can't explain why. I just know that I do."

"Off the record, of course," continued Beckman, "it's about damn time. I'm going to enjoy watching you two be happy instead of miserable for a change. I'm happy for you, and if I could just count on you to keep him out of my hair from time to time, I'll be even happier."

"Thank you, General," Sarah said, very grateful that she couldn't see the silly grin that was currently plastered on her face. "I'll do my best. Oh, and, General?"

"Yes?"

"We'd like to look for our own apartment together, if that's okay."

"Of course," Beckman replied. "Keep me apprised of your progress. Should I brief Major Casey on your team's new, err… rules of engagement?" At this point there could be no question but that she was trying to hide the fact that she was laughing. "No, I suppose you and Mr. Bartowski will want to do that."

Sarah was on cloud nine when she floated out of that bathroom. She was very tempted to wake Chuck up right then and tell him the amazing news… and maybe do a little more than just talk… like see if the forth time would continue the ever better trend.

But the fact of the matter was that he looked so darn cute lying there. And it was only a little after four in the morning. And he had just moved a mountain tonight already. Let the poor guy sleep… for a while anyway. There was no sense in killing the poor guy on the first night. So she just threw her nightshirt back on the floor, climbed back into bed, and snuggled as closely as she could. He didn't say anything. Not as long as sighs didn't count. But he did snuggle into what had quickly become their favorite position. _Hard? She thinks this is going to be hard? Not being able to tell him how I felt for two years… that was hard. Looking into his eyes and seeing the hurt, that was hard. Lying to him for his own good, that was hard. Being with him is going to be fun. More than fun… a piece of cake._

She finally felt Chuck stir as she gently rubbed circles on his stomach. She understood why he liked doing it so much. It felt great. She resisted the huge temptation to rub a little lower, but she knew where that would quickly lead. Let the poor guy sleep. "Why are you awake?" he asked sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

Wrong? Tonight there was nothing in the whole wide world that was wrong. So she reached over and gently kissed him. "No, Chuck," she said softly. "There is absolutely nothing wrong. Actually, everything is pretty right. Go back to sleep. I love you."

Of course that got the smile, and the return I-love-you that she had been looking for. Then he followed her advice and quickly fell back asleep. Sarah was far too pumped up to sleep. So she just continued to snuggle. She took in his scent as she continued to softly rub his stomach, felt his soft rhythmic breathing, and allowed herself to just enjoy the moment.

There were still a lot of issues to work out. Chuck was still the intersect. Protecting him was still priority one. After all, bad guys were still after him. Until that changed, even thinking about a normal life bordered on silly. And Sarah still had to admit… the thought of being a mother and starting a family was still intimidating to her… a little. And Chuck would want that right away. She was quickly going to need to get over whatever issues she had. Ellie could surely help. But whatever… they were a couple now. No matter what happened from now on, Sarah knew one thing for sure… it would happen to them together.

x-x-x-x-x

The next morning, everyone was a bit melancholy. With the exception of Sarah perhaps. There was nothing wrong, not really. It was just the realization that the two weeks were drawing to a close. They had been having so much fun, it was sad to think that it was quickly coming to an end. So they just spent the morning relaxing on the beach. After lunch Sarah insisted that Chuck take one last long romantic walk along the shore holding hands with her. They were on that walk when Ellie came looking for them.

When Sarah walked in the room, Cole was just finishing throwing his things into his bag. "Ellie said that you wanted to see me," she said.

"I just wanted to bring you up to speed," he said. "I've been recalled. They found the mole in MI-6."

"I know," Sarah said. "I talked to Beckman this morning. "When do you have to report?"

"I have a week," he replied. "But I'm actually in a bit of a hurry. There's something that I have to take care of first."

"I know that too," Sarah said. "Ellie tells me that you're really going to do this."

"I really didn't have much choice," Cole said with a laugh. "Eleanor fancies herself as quite the matchmaker, doesn't she?"

"A regular Cupid's assistant," Sarah replied with her own laugh. "You were wise to give in quickly. Otherwise things could have gotten messy. I guess that congratulations are in order."

"Don't congratulate me just yet," Cole said with a sigh. "She may well turn me out on my ear. It's no more than I deserve after all."

"Maybe," Sarah said. "But somehow I don't think so."

"So," Cole said. "What should I do? You're now the expert at being a spy in love. Any advise?"

"I'm hardly the expert," Sarah laughed. "I'm sure that Ellie has already told you everything that you'll need to know. Did she by any chance mention groveling?"

"Many times," Cole said with a grin. Then his face got serious as he nodded his head toward the other room where Chuck and Ellie were. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked. "She's really a quite remarkable lady. I do care so much for her."

"She's more than okay," Sarah said. "She's learned a very important lesson. Now she knows exactly what she wants out of her life, and even more importantly, who she wants it with. She'll never have to wonder again. You helped her figure that out. Most men would have taken advantage of that. I'm very sorry if I ever underestimated you. Thank you for being her friend. Thank you for being my friend."

Cole nodded.

"Besides," Sarah continued with a sly smile. "I'm not all that worried about Ellie. It's Chuck who is going to miss his new buddy."

"Hey," Cole said. "I'll be back. Eleanor made it very clear what the consequences would be for missing her wedding. On top of all that, I'm going to miss Chuck as well. He's a good friend… my first. Imagine that, Cole Barker with actual friends. The blokes at the agency are going to have quite a laugh at that."

"Be sure that you bring Brigid to the wedding," Sarah said. "Chuck is dying to meet her. We all are."

"Which wedding?" Cole asked with a grin. "Eleanor's? Or yours?"

Sarah ignored the blush that was rising up her neck. "Let's start with Ellie's," she said. "We'll see how that goes."

Cole snapped shut his bag and paused for a long moment. "Agent Walker," he finally said. "Sarah, I want to thank you."

"Thank me," Sarah asked. "What for?"

"You taught me a very important lesson," Cole said. "What good is duty if in it's pursuit, you stop being human?"

"To thine own self be true," Sarah said. "Don't thank me, thank Polonius. It was his advice. I'm just learning it myself."

"I know," Cole said. "Who'd have thunk it? The two most hard ass spies in the whole world… both in love… with civilians."

"It's amazing," Sarah agreed. "Do you know what's most amazing? I'm not even afraid of it anymore."

"I assume that your chat went well with the General," Cole said with a smile. "When are you going to tell him? He's been dying to hear you say it. He's been biting his own tongue these whole two weeks to not put any more pressure on you."

"Actually we sort of took care of that last night," Sarah said with a smile that lit up the entire room. "It went very well. The talk with Beckman went very well too. I've been dying to tell him about it all day. I feel horrible keeping him in suspense. But I want the moment to be absolutely perfect. I'll tell him after dinner tonight when we're alone."

"Perhaps you might try some non-verbal communication first," Cole teased. "If you're going for perfect, that might just work."

The blush was immediately back with a vengeance, but Sarah didn't flinch. "Actually, we sort of took care of that last night too," she said. "And I'm thinking that there is a slight chance we might continue some of that tonight, all in good time. I think that he deserves to hear it more fully with words first, don't you? And I need to tell him… who I am and the depth of how I really feel. I'm not great with words but I need to keep trying until he truly understands. I've been putting it off too long. Do you think I'll hear it back?"

"Is a frog's ass watertight?" Cole asked with a grin as he pickup up his bag and walked to the door. "Maybe you could go over there now. I'm sure Eleanor would give you some time alone with him. She's been rooting for you more than anybody."

"Have a safe trip," Sarah said as she leaned in to allow Cole to kiss her cheek. "Don't worry about Chuck. Something is telling me that he's going to have a fairly good night. But first things first, I have to take care of something with Ellie. We sort of have a friendly wager thing going."

"Tell Chuck that I'll call him tomorrow," Cole said over his shoulder. "Assuming he can still talk anyway. I have to run or I'm going to miss the flight."

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah said that they would meet Ellie at the restaurant, naturally he assumed that included Cole as well. So he was a little surprised when they walked up to see Ellie sitting at the table alone studying her menu and sipping one of those fruity rum drinks she had become so accustomed too. "Where's Cole?" he asked.

Sarah and Ellie looked at each other, silently deciding which one would answer. Finally Ellie spoke. "He left, sweetie," she said. 'He's on his way back to Ireland."

"He left?" Chuck asked incredulously. "He didn't say goodbye?"

"Don't worry, Chuck," Sarah said, with more of a sarcastic edge then she really intended. "I'm still here for you to talk too."

That got the grin she was looking for. "I didn't mean it like that," he said. "Don't tell me that now you're the one who is jealous of Cole. That would be quite the turn of events."

"Maybe," Sarah said, matching Chuck's grin. "But I'm going to work on my jealousy. I've been told that it's childish." Then she relaxed and picked up her menu. "He told me to tell you that he'll call you tomorrow. He'll be back to visit soon. He just needed to hurry to catch the last connecting flight."

"But…" Chuck started haltingly. "Why did he leave?"

"His vacation is over, Chuck," Sarah said with a soft smile. "Cole is going home to get his life back, just like we are."

Chuck's bewildered smile grew into a genuine one. "He's going to find Brigid," he said. "Isn't he? Good for him. It's about time." Chuck looked around at the looks Sarah and Ellie were sharing. "What about us?" he asked.

"Our vacation is over too," Sarah said. "It's time to get back to being Agent Walker and her superhero asset protecting the greater good. I've talked to General Beckman. In the morning I'll fly us back to Houston. Casey and Devon are already on the way to drive and meet us there. Ellie and Devon will take a commercial flight back home and get back to work treating patients and relearning what it's like to sleep in their own bed. That's as much about what they'll be doing as I really want to know. You and I will drive home with Casey. The threat is over."

"So," Chuck sighed. "I guess that means things are back to normal?"

"Not exactly," Sarah said with the soft smile turning into a sly grin. She stopped short of telling him about the briefing that Casey was going to get in the car. For one thing she wanted him to be surprised. She was going to enjoy paying Casey back for every jab that he had ever taken at their expense over the past two years. She was going to wait until he was trapped in that car and see how red she could make his face as she, in some fairly vivid level of detail, described her and Chuck's new status. If she could talk Chuck into it, and she was sure that she could talk him into pretty much anything, she was planning on climbing in that back seat with him and see just how far she could make Casey squirm… until he stopped the car and threatened to shoot himself. It was going to be a fun drive, on multiple levels.

Just then Sarah was interrupted out of her daydream when the waiter came to take their orders. Ellie was about to open her mouth to order the salmon when Sarah interrupted. "Excuse me," she said. "But the lady will have your finest filet, medium rare."

Ellie looked intently at Sarah. The arch of her eyebrow asked the question. The almost imperceptible nod set her heart soaring. Not wanting to cause a scene in such a fancy place, she tried her best to suppress the squeal, but… who are we kidding? This was Ellie, after all.

Now Chuck was completely puzzled. He just looked at the not so subtle faces that Sarah and Ellie were making at each other. "I'm confused," he said. "Not exactly? What does that mean?"

Sarah turned her grin towards Chuck and grabbed his hand. "You've been very patient these past two weeks," she said. "I need just one more hour of that from you. I have some very good news. I'll explain it all to you after dinner, when we're alone. No more secrets this time. But first I have a very serious obligation to settle. I have to tell you about your sister. It turns out that she is a genius. She was absolutely right."

Chuck paused for a moment trying to read the expression on her face. "Okay," he finally said. "I give. What was she right about?"

Sarah may have answered Chuck… but she was looking directly into Ellie's eyes. She reached over with her free hand and grabbed her best friend's arm. She had to pause for a long moment to keep her voice from breaking. "Pretty much everything," she said as she finally found her voice.

Ellie had to pause for a bit herself. This was much too special a moment for words. And the funny thing is she wasn't sure who she was happier for… Chuck, Sarah, or herself. So she just grabbed the hand that was holding her arm and gave it a squeeze.

"I know the deal called for us to get sloppy drunk," Sarah said as she finally found her composure… and her smile. "But would it be okay if we put that off until we get back home sometime? I have other plans for tonight… and I'd kinda like to be sober for them."

Chuck kept switching his confused gauze between Sarah and Ellie. Something unspoken was going on between them. They were clearly enjoying themselves with some inside joke.

Ellie couldn't keep from laughing. "I'll bet you would," she was finally able to choke out. Then she turned her attention back to Chuck. "You're not confused, little brother," she said.

"I'm not?" Chuck asked incredulously.

"No, sweetie," Ellie said as she tried to wipe the happy tears from her eyes. "Not really. It's more like you don't have a freaking clue." Then she turned back to Sarah. "So, you're really going to do this? What about your rules?"

"I negotiated some new rules," Sarah said. "I'm still going to do whatever it takes to protect him. But you were right. That now includes protecting him emotionally… and trusting him to protect me. I'm in love with him. From now on that has to be the first rule."

"So," Ellie said. "Does that mean that I'm going to get a title change anytime soon? Like maybe to sister?"

"Probably not anytime real soon, I'm afraid," Sarah said with a sigh. "Not officially anyway. Some things beyond our control would have to work out first. But someday for sure. Maybe we can make it honorary until them."

"How about Aunt?"

Sarah smiled. "Someday," she said. "The same things that are beyond our control have to work out. But it's going to happen. I think you can safely plan on being called Aunt Ellie sometime in the not too distant future."

"Excuse me," Chuck said, but now his confused look had turned into his classic grin. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

Sarah turned to fully face Chuck as she gave the hand that she was still holding a squeeze. "There are a lot of things that I want to tell you," she said. "We're going to have a long talk. For one thing, I want you to know everything about me, who I was, and how I got to be who I am. But I want the moment to be perfect. I know that you're anxious. I am too. But can you please wait for just one more hour? As soon as we're alone in our room, I promise to truthfully answer any question that you ask. I have some for you as well, so I hope I can count on that same level of openness. We've waited for this moment for a long time. What's another hour? I promise it will be worth the wait."

"Can we just go now?" Chuck asked. "I don't think Ellie will mind. And suddenly I'm not all that hungry."

Sarah shook her head. "As much as I'd love that, I really don't think it's a good idea for you to miss any meals at this particular juncture," she said.

"Why not?"

Sarah's smile simply lit up the restaurant. That more than anything told him how very badly he wanted to get this meal over with and back to that room. "It's true we're going to have a long talk," she replied. "But we're surely going to do more than just talk. Trust me, Chuck, tonight, and for the next few days… you're going to be needing all of your strength."

The End

x-x-x-x-x

_A/N: We had a great time doing this story. I know that I speak for BrickRoad when I say that the storyline exceeded our expectations._

_We'd like to thank you for your support. It also exceeded our expectations._

_Naturally, I have a sequel in mind. Since BR won't be actively involved, I'll probably do it as a BillAtWork story. It will be called The Long Road Back and will follow the events that were set in motion by Carina's call with the President._

_It will be a little darker, a little more edgy, and probably a little more action than this one. In the spirit of Phase Three, I plan on exploring who Sarah Walker was, who she now is, and what she's capable of when she's lovesick and gets pushed too far. But we'll see. My stories always go places that I hadn't planned._

x-x-x-x-x


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